RUSTAM S. SIDHWA, J.-This is a petition by WAPDA, Lahore seeking leave to appeal against the judgment of the Federal Service Tribunal dated 21-6-1989 accepting the appeal of Muhammad Khalid, respondent, and setting aside his removal and ordering lesser punishment.
2. On behalf of the petitioner it is submitted that the Tribunal legally erred in condoning the delay in the filing of the appeal even, though the respondent had not made any application for condonation of delay. It is further contended that the order of Departmental Authority dated 29-4- 1985 dismissing the respondent's appeal was sent by registered post to the respondent, which should have been received in the normal course within a day or so and that the allegation of the respondent that he had received the said order on 7-5-1985, which was found to be correct by the Tribunal, was based on a misreading of the evidence.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner has not been able to show what evidence was produced by the petitioner before the Tribunal in support of its plea that the decision of the Superintending Engineer dated 29-4-1985 was sent to the respondent by registered post and, if so, on what date the communication was delivered to the respondent or returned unserved. The learned counsel for the petitioner admits that the envelope containing the decision was received back unserved, but the same was not produced before the Tribunal. If this be so, the Tribunal was not in error in accepting the version of the respondent that he had received communication of the dismissal order on 7-5-1985 and had thus preferred his appeal within the statutory period of 30 days. As regards the question that no application for condonation of delay had been filed by the respondent, the matter being one of discretion, the finding of the Tribunal cannot be set aside on a technicality alone. Taking all circumstances into consideration we do not see any good ground for granting leave. This petition is dismissed.