The Supreme Court (SC) in its judgment in Mithailal Dalsangar Singh v Annabai Devram Kini says that the courts have to adopt a justice-oriented approach dictated by the uppermost consideration that ordinarily a litigant ought not to be denied an opportunity of having a case determined on merits unless he has, by gross negligence, deliberate inaction or something akin to misconduct, disentitled himself from seeking the indulgence of the court.
In short, it means that when there is a clash between the substantive merit and the procedural aspects the court must focus on the merit of the case.
Reference
