Abdul Hameed Rehmani Vs Special Director Enforcement Directorate (Delhi High Court)
Delhi High Court held that 3621 days of delay in filing of an application for impleadment as legal heir allowed since matter came to the knowledge of legal heir only after the same was listed after nearly thirteen years. Accordingly, since reasonable and bonafide explanation provided, the delay in filing of impleadment application condoned.
Facts- A Show Cause Notice had been issued by the adjudicating officer, i.e., the Special Director, Directorate of Enforcement, Delhi, to the Abdul Kalam Azad Islamic Awakening Centre and its President, Abdul Hameed Rahmani, for alleged contravention of the provisions of Sections 8(1) and 14 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 on 12.06.2001.
The applicant, Mohammad Rehmani, by way of the present application, seeks condonation of delay of 3621 days, in filing an application for his impleadment as the legal heir of late Abdul Hameed Rehmani.
Conclusion- Held that this is not a simplicitor case of condonation of delay, but one involving peculiar facts and circumstances where – the appeal had been preferred in 2007, placed in the ‘regular matters’ category in 2009, and then remained unlisted for nearly thirteen years. The appellant passed away in 2013, the appeal was listed once in 2022 and again relegated to the ‘regular matters’ list, and it was only when the connected criminal revision petitions were taken up in 2023 that the applicant, being the son of the deceased-appellant, became aware of the pendency of this appeal before this Court. These circumstances, viewed cumulatively, provide a reasonable and bona fide explanation for the delay in filing the impleadment application.
