Authority: High Court of Chhattisgarh at Bilaspur
Order Date: 06/10/2026
Case Overview
- Petitioner: Rajendra Kumar Mahant, son of the late Ramlal Mahant, aged about 55, residing at House No. 15 Gadriya Pura, Tandipar, Tahsil Sarangarh, District Raigarh, Chhattisgarh.
- Respondents: South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. (SECL) represented by:
1. Secretary General Manager, SECL, Seepat Road, Bilaspur;
2. Area Manager, SECL, Kusmunda Colliery, District Korba;
3. Chief General Manager, SECL, Area Kusmunda, District Korba;
4. Deputy Chief General Manager, SECL, Area Kusmunda, District Korba.
- Counsel: For petitioner – Mr. Vinod Kumar Dewangan; for respondents – Mr. Rahul Mishra.
- Background: The petitioner alleges that his father, Late Ramlal Mahant, who retired as an Assistant Teacher on 30‑04‑2002 and died in 2015, submitted a representation to SECL on 02‑01‑1996 seeking payment of arrears for the period 1989‑1994. The petitioner seeks a direction for SECL to consider this representation.
- Contentions: Respondents argue the petitioner's pleadings are self‑contradictory (father’s position shown as Peon, Category‑II in the representation) and that the claim is stale, given the father retired in 2002 and died in 2015. No acknowledgment or receipt of the 1996 representation is on record, and no satisfactory explanation for the three‑decade delay is provided.
- Legal Principles Cited: The Court reiterated that while Article 226 writ petitions have no prescribed limitation period, they must be filed within a reasonable time. The doctrines of delay, laches, repose, certainty, and finality were emphasized. A litigant who remains inactive for an “unduly long period” cannot invoke discretionary writ jurisdiction.
Final Outcome
- The Court, after considering the inordinate and unexplained delay, the lack of evidence of submission of the 1996 representation, and the principles of delay and laches, dismissed the writ petition in limine on the ground of delay and laches.
Topics: Writ Petition; Delay and Laches