Can't Dismiss Appeals Solely For Late Submission Of Documents, Procedural Errors Can't Nullify One's Right To Appeal: J&K High Court

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has held that the dismissal of the appeal by the appellate court solely due to the late submission of the certified copy of the order was not legally sustainable and amounted to a failure of justice. However, the appellate court dismissed the appeal holding that the certified copy of the impugned order was not filed within the specified time. To address the argument that the appeal was dismissed on account of non-filing of the certified copy of the order appealed against and whether on account of such failure the said right of appeal being a substantive right can be lost by a party or else denied thereof by an appellate court the bench referenced Dajisaheb Mane and others versus Shankar Rao Vithal reported in AIR 1959 observed, “…The statutory substantive right of appeal vested in a party cannot remain illusory or nugatory by giving undue importance to procedural law and that the breach of the procedural rule cannot be said to take away a litigants right to file appeal when a statute confers such a right specifically”. Concluding that the appellate court's dismissal of the appellants' appeal solely due to the late submission of a certified copy of the order had resulted in a miscarriage of justice the court deemed the impugned order legally unsustainable and set it aside.