The Jharkhand High Court has rejected the state government’s appeal against an order directing it to reconsider Aqua World’s request for a waiver or concession in lease rent for the period affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The division bench held that the single judge had only ordered a reconsideration of the request and that there was no basis to interfere with that direction.
Chief Justice M.S. Sonak and Justice Anubha Rawat Choudhary passed the order in a case involving Aqua World, a partnership firm in Ranchi. The firm’s partner, Pratul Shahdeo, had sought relief from lease rent for the period in which business operations were affected by the pandemic.
The original petition had been considered by a single judge of the High Court, who directed the state government to reconsider Aqua World’s request for a lease-rent concession or waiver. The direction did not itself grant the firm a waiver. It required the government to examine the request again in view of the circumstances cited by the petitioner.
The order was challenged by the secretary of the Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cooperative Department and the director of fisheries. The state filed an appeal against the single-judge order, but the appeal was submitted 48 days after the prescribed period. The government therefore also filed an interlocutory application seeking condonation of the delay.
During the hearing, the division bench noted that, in ordinary circumstances, there would be no difficulty in issuing notice to the respondent on an application seeking condonation of delay. However, the bench said the circumstances of this case were different because the single judge had only directed the government to reconsider the petitioner’s request.
The division bench found that the direction to reconsider the lease-rent request was justified by the special facts of the case. It held that there was no reason to interfere with the single-judge order. The court also observed that when an appeal itself lacked merit, there was no need to first condone the delay, issue notice to the respondent and then dismiss the appeal.
The court consequently rejected both the state government’s application seeking condonation of the 48-day delay and the appeal itself. The ruling keeps the single judge’s direction in force, leaving the government to reconsider Aqua World’s request in accordance with that order. The court’s order, as reported, does not itself determine whether the firm will receive a full waiver, partial concession or any other lease-rent relief.
