SC condones delay of over 3000 days in challenge to Life Sentence as part of Project Sahyog

The Supreme Court recently condoned a delay of nearly nine years in filing a Special Leave Petition, in line with a pilot scheme for the condonation of delays on compassionate grounds titled Project Sahyog..Project Sahyog had been initiated by the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee earlier this year to aid those unable to approach the Court on time owing to no fault of theirs. The Committee had also released a list of advocates who would render aid in such matters involving inordinate delay..Accordingly, in the order passed last Friday, the Bench of Justices SA Bobde and L Nageswara Rao condoned the delay in filing an appeal against the award of a life sentence by the Chhattisgarh High Court in the case of Gulab Kushwaha v State of Chhattisgarh. The judgment in the case was passed in May 2009. The delay condoned by the Bench is that of around 3200 days..Advocates Shikhil Suri and Shiv Kumar Suri were engaged as part of Project Sahyog to appear on behalf of the accused/petitioner. The counsel informed the Court that the appellant, in this case, had been in custody for the past 17 years on account of which he was unable to bring his case before the Supreme Court. The petition was admitted last August and thereafter came before the Court on Friday..It was submitted that the matter ought to be heard on merits since it involved a life imprisonment matter, and since the petitioner was not to blame for his inability to approach the Court..On hearing the submissions, the Court has issued notice after recording in its order that the delay has been condoned..Read the Order: