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TMI Blog2015 (4) TMI 849X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ant cleared the vessel on payment of customs duty on the basis of 7009 metric tons and executed a bank guarantee for Rs. 19,90,275/- being the difference in customs duty on 1561 metric tons. On 25.3.1992, the Collector of Customs, Rajkot, directed the Assistant Collector, Bhavnagar to encash the bank guarantee furnished by the appellant. On 2.4.1992, the Superintendent of Customs and Central Excise sent a letter to the appellant communicating the decision of the Collector, as aforesaid. The bank guarantee was duly encashed on 3.4.1992. After protesting against the said illegal action of the Department in encashing the bank guarantee, the appellant preferred an appeal against the Superintendent's letter dated 2.4.1992 and the Collector's order dated 25.3.1992 before CEGAT. On 23.6.1998, the Appellate Tribunal allowed the appeal and set aside the order of the Collector dated 25.3.1992. In the year 2000, the Department preferred an appeal before this Court. On 12.3.2003, this Court allowed the appeal holding: "This appeal is against a judgment dated 23.6.1998 passed by the Customs, Excise And Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal, West Regional Bench at Mumbai. Facts briefly state ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ion to condone delay in filing the appeal was made in the following terms: "As appeal against the order of the Supdt. of Customs was filed by us within 60 days of the receipt of the certified true copy of the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court. It is our respectful submission that since the appeal was filed by us before the correct forum with due dispatch after receipt of the Supreme Court's judgment, there has been no delay in filing the appeal. It is well settled now that the time taken for pursuing a remedy before another appellate Forum is to be excluded for the purpose of computing the period for filing an appeal. (Union Carbide India Ltd. Vs. CC 1998 (77) ECR 376, Karnataka Minerals & Mfg. Co. Ltd. Vs. CCE 1998 (101) ELT 627)." 3. By an order dated 27.10.2003, the Commissioner of Customs (Appeals) dismissed the appeal on the ground of delay stating that the appeal had been filed way beyond the period of 60 days plus 30 days provided for in Section 128 of the Customs Act. Against this order, CESTAT dismissed the appeal of the appellant stating that the Commissioner (Appeals) had no power to condone delay beyond the period specified in Section 128. 4. Shri Viswanathan, le ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rther, according to him, no question of any principle of section 14 would get attracted. In fact, according to him, there is no pleading qua Section 14 at all - the only pleading is for condonation of delay and not for exclusion of time. Section 14 requires that five necessary ingredients must be satisfied on facts before it can be attracted. The appellant has neither pleaded nor proved any of these ingredients. He also cited a number of authorities which we will refer to in the course of this judgment. Ingredients of Section 14. Section 14 of the Limitation Act reads as follows: "14. Exclusion of time of proceeding bona fide in court without jurisdiction.-(1) In computing the period of limitation for any suit the time during which the plaintiff has been prosecuting with due diligence another civil proceeding, whether in a court of first instance or of appeal or revision, against the defendant shall be excluded, where the proceeding relates to the same matter in issue and is prosecuted in good faith in a court which, from defect of jurisdiction or other cause of a like nature, is unable to entertain it. (2) In computing the period of limitation for any application, the time du ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . However, in an application for condonation of delay the appellant pointed out that they were pursuing a remedy before another appellate forum which ought to be excluded. We deem this averment sufficient for the appellant to contend that Section 14 of the Limitation Act or principles laid down under it would be attracted to the facts of this case. We might also point out that conditions 1 to 4 mentioned in the Consolidated Engineering case have, in fact, been met by the appellant. It is clear that both the prior and subsequent proceedings are civil proceedings prosecuted by the same party. The prior proceeding had been prosecuted with due diligence and in good faith, as has been explained in Consolidated Engineering itself. These phrases only mean that the party who invokes Section 14 should not be guilty of negligence, lapse or inaction. Further, there should be no pretended mistake intentionally made with a view to delaying the proceedings or harassing the opposite party. On the facts of this case, as the earlier Supreme Court order dated 12.3.2003 itself points out, there was some confusion as to whether what was appealed against was the Superintendent's order or the Collector ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to be sued; (ii) any person whose estate is represented by the defendant as executor, administrator or other representative; (i) "plaintiff" includes- (i) any person from or through whom a plaintiff derives his right to sue; (ii) any person whose estate is represented by the plaintiff as executor, administrator or other representative;" 10. Section 3(2) which is material states as follows: "3(2) For the purposes of this Act- (a)A suit is instituted- (i)In an ordinary case, when the plaint is presented to the proper officer; (ii)In the case of a pauper, when his application for leave to sue as a pauper is made; and (iii)In the case of a claim against a company which is being wound up by the court, when the claimant first sends in his claim to the official liquidator; (b) Any claim by way of a set off or a counter claim, shall be treated as a separate suit and shall be deemed to have been instituted - (i)in the case of a set off, on the same date as the suit in which the set off is pleaded; (ii)in the case of a counter claim, on the date on which the counter claim is made in court; (c)an application by notice of motion in a High Court is made when the application is pres ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a pauper -- (a) to the High Court; Sixty days The date of decree appealed from. (b) to any other court. Thirty days The date of decree appealed from. 131. To any court for the exercise of its powers of revision under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), or the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (5 of 1898). Ninety days The date of the decree or order or sentence sought to be revised. It will be seen that suits and appeals that are covered by the Limitation Act are so covered provided court fees prescribed for such suits or appeals are paid. Under Section 13, set out hereinabove, this becomes clear. That is why time is excluded in cases where leave to file a suit or an appeal as a pauper is granted in the circumstances mentioned in the Section. 'Courts' that are mentioned in this Section are therefore courts as understood in the strict sense of being part of the Judicial Branch of the State. 15. Section 21 also makes it clear that the suit that the Limitation Act speaks of is instituted only by a plaintiff against a defendant. Both plaintiff and defendant have been defined as including persons through whom they derive their right t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... red a ruling upon any disputed question of law. A quasi-judicial decision equally presupposes an existing dispute between two or more parties and involves (1) and (2), but does not necessarily involve (3) and never involves (4). The place of (4) is in fact taken by administrative action, the character of which is determined by the Minister's free choice." 18. Under our constitutional scheme of things, the judiciary is dealt with in Chapter IV of Part V and Chapter V of Part VI. Chapter IV of Part V deals with the Supreme Court and Chapter V of Part VI deals with the High Courts and courts subordinate thereto. When the Constitution uses the expression "court", it refers to this Court system. As opposed to this court system is a system of quasi-judicial bodies called Tribunals. Thus, Articles 136 and 227 refer to "courts" as distinct from "tribunals". The question in this case is whether the Limitation Act extends beyond the court system mentioned above and embraces within its scope quasi-judicial bodies as well. 19. A series of decisions of this Court have clearly held that the Limitation Act applies only to courts and does not apply to quasi-judicial bodies. Thus, in Town Mun ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 37 of the Limitation Act. This Court emphatically stated that Article 137 only contemplates applications to courts in the following terms: "3. In our view Article 137 only contemplates applications to Courts. In the Third Division of the Schedule to the Limitation Act, 1963 all the other applications mentioned in the various articles are applications filed in a court. Further Section 4 of the Limitation Act, 1963, provides for the contingency when the prescribed period for any application expires on a holiday and the only contingency contemplated is "when the court is closed." Again under Section 5 it is only a court which is enabled to admit an application after the prescribed period has expired if the court is satisfied that the applicant had sufficient cause for not preferring the application. It seems to us that the scheme of the Indian Limitation Act is that it only deals with applications to courts, and that the Labour Court is not a court within the Indian Limitation Act, 1963.'" 20. In Kerala State Electricity Board v. T.P. Kunhaliumma, (1976) 4 SCC 634, a 3-Judge Bench of this Court followed the aforesaid two judgments and stated:- "22. The conclusion we reach is th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s not a court within the meaning of Section 195 of the Code of Criminal Procedure although he is required to perform certain quasi-judicial functions. The decision in Jagannath Prasad case it seems, was not brought to the notice of the High Court. In view of these pronouncements of this Court, there is no room for argument that the Appellate Authority and the Judge (Revisions) Sales tax exercising jurisdiction under the Sales Tax Act, are "courts". They are merely Administrative Tribunals and "not courts". Section 14, Limitation Act, therefore, does not, in terms apply to proceedings before such tribunals." It then went on to discuss whether the general principle underlying Section 14 would be applicable and held:- "12. Three features of the scheme of the above provision are noteworthy. The first is that no limitation has been prescribed for the suo motu exercise of its jurisdiction by the revising authority. The second is that the period of one year prescribed as limitation for filing an application for revision by the aggrieved party is unusually long. The third is that the revising authority has no discretion to extend this period beyond a further period of six months, even on ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rare as they are, filed beyond such period, the revising authority may on its own motion entertain the revision and grant relief. Given the three features of the U.P. Sales Tax Act scheme, the Court held that the legislature deliberately excluded the application of the principle underlying Section 14 except to the limited extent that it may amount to sufficient cause for condoning delay within the period of 18 months. 23. Close upon the heels of this judgment comes another 3-Judge Bench decision under the same provision of the U.P. Sales Tax Act. In this judgment, another 3-Judge Bench in C.S.T. v. Madan Lal Das and Sons, 1976 (4) SCC 464, without adverting to either Parson Tools or the three other judgments mentioned hereinabove went on to apply Section 12 (2) of the Limitation Act to proceedings under the U.P. Sales Tax Act. None of the aforesaid four decisions were pointed out to the court and it was not argued that the Limitation Act applies only to courts and not to Sales Tax authorities who are quasi-judicial Tribunals. This judgment, therefore, is not an authority for the proposition that the Limitation Act would apply to Tribunals as opposed to courts. Clearly the conclusi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the view that because of the express provision in Section 10(3) (B) applicability of Section 14(2) of the Sales Tax Act was ruled out. Implicit in this reasoning is the assumption that but for such an express conflict or contrary intention emanating from Section 10(3)(B) of the U.P. Sales Tax Act which was a special law, Section 29(2) would have brought in Section 14(2) of the Limitation Act even for governing period of limitation for such revision applications. In any case, the scope of Section 29(2) was not considered by the aforesaid decision of the three learned Judges and consequently it cannot be held to be an authority for the proposition that in revisional proceedings before the Sales Tax authorities functioning under the U.P. Sales Tax Act Section 29(2) cannot apply as Mr. Nariman would like to have it." It then went on to follow the judgment reported in The Commissioner of Sales Tax, U.P. v. M/s. Madan Lal Das & Sons, Bareilly, (1976) 4 SCC 464 which, as has been pointed out earlier, is not an authority for the proposition that the Limitation Act would apply to Tribunals. In fact, Mukri Gopalan's case was distinguished in Om Prakash v. Ashwani Kumar Bassi, (2010) 9 SCC 1 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... corporating the Limitation Act will apply to the proceedings in the arbitration as it applies to the proceedings of a suit in the court. Sub-section (4) of Section 43, inter alia, provides that where the court orders that an arbitral award be set aside, the period between the commencement of the arbitration and the date of the order of the court shall be excluded in computing the time prescribed by the Limitation Act, 1963, for the commencement of the proceedings with respect to the dispute so submitted. If the period between the commencement of the arbitration proceedings till the award is set aside by the court, has to be excluded in computing the period of limitation provided for any proceedings with respect to the dispute, there is no good reason as to why it should not be held that the provisions of Section 14 of the Limitation Act would be applicable to an application submitted under Section 34 of the Act of 1996, more particularly where no provision is to be found in the Act of 1996, which excludes the applicability of Section 14 of the Limitation Act, to an application made under Section 34 of the Act. It is to be noticed that the powers under Section 34 of the Act can be e ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed upon to examine scope of revisional powers. The Court in this case is dealing with Section 34 of the Act which confers powers on the court of the first instance to set aside an award rendered by an arbitrator on specified grounds. It is not the case of the contractor that the forums before which the Government of India undertaking had initiated proceedings for setting aside the arbitral award are not "courts". In view of these glaring distinguishing features, this Court is of the opinion that the decision rendered in CST [(1975) 4 SCC 22 : 1975 SCC (Tax) 185 : (1975) 3 SCR 743] did not decide the issue which falls for consideration of this Court and, therefore, the said decision cannot be construed to mean that the provisions of Section 14 of the Limitation Act are not applicable to an application submitted under Section 34 of the Act of 1996." In a separate concurring judgment Justice Raveendran specifically held: "44. It may be noticed at this juncture that the Schedule to the Limitation Act prescribes the period of limitation only to proceedings in courts and not to any proceeding before a tribunal or quasi-judicial authority. Consequently Sections 3 and 29(2) of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t be for a period in excess of the ceiling period prescribed, is in the light of its finding that Section 14(2) of the Limitation Act was inapplicable to revisions under Section 10(3-B) of the U.P. Sales Tax Act. These observations cannot be interpreted as laying down a proposition that even where Section 14(2) of the Limitation Act in terms applied and the period spent before wrong forum could therefore be excluded while computing the period of limitation, the pendency before the wrong forum should be considered only as a sufficient cause for extension of period of limitation and therefore, subjected to the ceiling relating to the extension of the period of limitation. As we are concerned with a proceeding before a court to which Section 14(2) of the Limitation Act applies, the decision in Parson Tools [(1975) 4 SCC 22 : 1975 SCC (Tax) 185 : (1975) 3 SCR 743] which related to a proceeding before a Tribunal to which Section 14(2) of the Limitation Act did not apply, has no application." 27. Obviously, the ratio of Mukri Gopalan does not square with the observations of the 3-Judge Bench in Consolidated Engineering Enterprises. In the latter case, this Court has unequivocally held t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s, appeals or applications filed in courts. This again is an important pointer to the fact that the entirety of the Limitation Act including Section 29(2) would apply only to the three kinds of proceedings mentioned all of which are to be filed in courts. 30. It now remains to consider the decision of a 2-Judge Bench reported in P. Sarathy v. State Bank of India, (2000) 5 SCC 355. This judgment has held that an abortive proceeding before the appellate authority under Section 41 of the Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishment Act would attract the provisions of Section 14 of the Limitation Act inasmuch as the appellant in this case had been prosecuting with due diligence another civil proceeding before the appellate authority under the Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishment Act, which appeal was dismissed on the ground that the said Act was not applicable to nationalized banks and that, therefore, such appeal would not be maintainable. This Court made a distinction between "Civil Court" and "court' and expanded the scope of Section 14 stating that any authority or Tribunal having the trappings of a Court would be a "court" within the meaning of Section 14. It must be remembered that the word ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of Customs may appeal to the Commissioner (Appeals) within [sixty days] from the date of the communication to him of such decision or order: [Provided that the Commissioner (Appeals) may, if he is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from presenting the appeal within the aforesaid period of sixty days, allow it to be presented within a further period of thirty days.] [(1-A) The Commissioner (Appeals) may, if sufficient cause is shown, at any stage of hearing of an appeal, grant time, from time to time, to the parties or any of them and adjourn the hearing of the appeal for reasons to be recorded in writing : Provided that no such adjournment shall be granted more than three times to a party during hearing of the appeal.] (2) Every appeal under this section shall be in such form and shall be verified in such manner as may be specified by rules made in this behalf." Prior to its amendment in 2001, the said Section read as under:- "128. Appeals to Collector (Appeals).-(1) Any person aggrieved by any decision or order passed under this Act by an officer of customs lower in rank than a Collector of Customs may appeal to the Collector (Appeals) within thr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Kerala. The Court held: "16. The provisions contained in Sections 5 and 14 of the Limitation Act are meant for grant of relief where a person has committed some mistake. The provisions of Sections 5 and 14 of the Limitation Act alike should, thus, be applied in a broad based manner. When sub-section (2) of Section 14 of the Limitation Act per se is not applicable, the same would not mean that the principles akin thereto would not be applied. Otherwise, the provisions of Section 5 of the Limitation Act would apply. There cannot be any doubt whatsoever that the same would be applicable to a case of this nature. 17. There cannot furthermore be any doubt whatsoever that having regard to the definition of "suit" as contained in Section 2(l) of the Limitation Act, a revision application will not answer the said description. But, although the provisions of Section 14 of the Limitation Act per se are not applicable, in our opinion, the principles thereof would be applicable for the purpose of condonation of delay in filing an appeal or a revision application in terms of Section 5 thereof. 18. It is also now a well-settled principle of law that mentioning of a wrong provision or non-ment ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... icable not only to a case in which a litigant brings his application in the court, that is, a court having no jurisdiction to entertain it but also where he brings the suit or the application in the wrong court in consequence of bona fide mistake or (sic of) law or defect of procedure. Having regard to the intention of the legislature this Court is of the firm opinion that the equity underlying Section 14 should be applied to its fullest extent and time taken diligently pursuing a remedy, in a wrong court, should be excluded. See Shakti Tubes Ltd. v. State of Bihar [(2009) 1 SCC 786]." 33. Various provisions of the Limitation Act are based on advancing the cause of justice. Section 6 is one such. It reads as follows:- "6. Legal disability.-(1) Where a person entitled to institute a suit or make an application for the execution of a decree is, at the time from which the prescribed period is to be reckoned, a minor or insane, or an idiot, he may institute the suit or make the application within the same period after the disability has ceased, as would otherwise have been allowed from the time specified therefor in the third column of the Schedule. (2) Where such person is, at the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... uo moto the appellate power and grant relief to a person who institutes an appeal out of time in an appropriate case. Also, Section 10 of the U.P. Sales Tax Act dealt with the filing of a revision petition after a first appeal had already been rejected, and not to a case of a first appeal as provided under Section 128 of the Customs Act. Another feature, which is of direct relevance in this case, is that for revision petitions filed under the U.P. Sales Tax Act a sufficiently long period of 18 months had been given beyond which it was the policy of the legislature not to extend limitation any further. This aspect of Parson Tools has been explained in Consolidated Engineering in some detail by both the main judgment as well as the concurring judgment. In the latter judgment, it has been pointed out that there is a vital distinction between extending time and condoning delay. Like Section 34 of the Arbitration Act, Section 128 of the Customs Act is a Section which lays down that delay cannot be condoned beyond a certain period. Like Section 34 of the Arbitration Act, Section 128 of the Customs Act does not lay down a long period. In these circumstances, to infer exclusion of Section ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 921) 1 KB 64] and Ajmera Housing Corpn. v.CIT [(2010) 8 SCC 739] .)". 37. We do not see how this judgment furthers the argument of Shri Sanghi. This is only reiteration of the classic statement of law contained in the Cape Brandy Syndicate case. Further, the context of this paragraph is that a literal meaning has to be given to a charging Section in a tax statute. When it comes to machinery provisions in tax statutes and provisions which provide for appeals and the limitation period within which such appeals have to be filed, it is clear that the aforesaid observations would have no application whatsoever. 38. Shri Sanghi then referred us to Sree Balaji Nagar Residential Assn. v. State of Tamil Nadu, (2015) 3 SCC 353 and read out paragraphs 10 and 11 from the said judgment. What was held by this Court in that case was that Section 24(2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 does not exclude any period during which a land acquisition proceeding which might have remain stayed on account of an injunction granted by any Court. This was so held by contrasting the language of section 24(2) with the language of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pied in obtaining certified copies of the judgment which is an essential requisite for the filing of an appeal or revision in the higher Court has to be disregarded for purposes of S. 14. We do not think that the legislature would have contemplated such a situation. It would certainly result in an anomaly to hold that the time covered by taking the steps absolutely necessary for initiating proceedings in a Court should be included in calculating the period of limitation while the time during which a former suit or application was pending in a Court should be excluded. In our considered judgment the section does not make any distinction between the steps which a litigant has to take to initiate proceedings in a Court and the actual pendency of those proceedings in the Court." 40. In Mst. Duliyabai & Ors. v. Vilayatali & Ors., AIR 1959 MP 271, a Division Bench of the High Court held:- "What would be the time during which the plaintiff has been prosecuting with due diligence another civil proceeding in a Court of appeal? Certainly the time requisite for obtaining the certified copies under Section 12 of the Limitation Act would be included within the meaning of the section. Also the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s constituting the Division Bench held that the plaintiffs were entitled to exclude the entire period from the date of the order recording the adjustment upto the date of the final order of the highest appellate Court. We feel that this interpretation of Section 14 is in consonance with the wording of the Section. Therefore, differing from the learned trial Judge, we hold that the appellants were entitled to exclude the period from 18-9-1948 to 15-12-1948." 41. The language of Section 14, construed in the light of the object for which the provision has been made, lends itself to such an interpretation. The object of Section 14 is that if its conditions are otherwise met, the plaintiff/applicant should be put in the same position as he was when he started an abortive proceeding. What is necessary is the absence of negligence or inaction. So long as the plaintiff or applicant is bonafide pursuing a legal remedy which turns out to be abortive, the time beginning from the date of the cause of action of an appellate proceeding is to be excluded if such appellate proceeding is from an order in an original proceeding instituted without jurisdiction or which has not resulted in an order o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f cannot be said to be a proceeding instituted in good faith and secondly, dismissal of writ petition on the ground that it was not an appropriate remedy for seeking money relief cannot be said to be 'defect of jurisdiction or other cause of a like nature' within the meaning of Section 14 of the Limitation Act. It is true that the writ petition was not dismissed by the High Court on the ground of defect of jurisdiction. However, Section 14 of the Limitation Act is wide in its application, inasmuch as it is not confined in its applicability only to cases of defect of jurisdiction but it is applicable also to cases where the prior proceedings have failed on account of other causes of like nature. The expression 'other cause of like nature' came up for the consideration of this Court in Roshanlal Kuthalia v. R.B. Mohan Singh Oberoi[(1975) 4 SCC 628] and it was held that Section 14 of the Limitation Act is wide enough to cover such cases where the defects are not merely jurisdictional strictly so called but others more or less neighbours to such deficiencies. Any circumstance, legal or factual, which inhibits entertainment or consideration by the court of the dispute on the merits come ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... resisting an appeal filed by a defendant shall also be deemed to prosecute a proceeding so that the time taken in the appeal can also be the subject matter of exclusion under Section 14. Equally, explanation (c) which deems misjoinder of parties or a cause of action to be a cause of a like nature with defect of jurisdiction, expands the scope of the section. We have already noticed that the India Electric Works Ltd. judgment has held that strictly speaking misjoinder of parties or of causes of action can hardly be regarded as a defect of jurisdiction or something similar to it. Therefore properly construed, explanation (a) also confers a benefit and does not by a side wind seek to take away any other benefit that a purposive reading of Section 14 might give. We, therefore, agree with the decision of the Madhya Pradesh High Court that the period from the cause of action till the institution of appellate or revisional proceedings from original proceedings which prove to be abortive are also liable to exclusion under the Section. The view of the Andhra Pradesh High Court is too broadly stated. The period prior to institution of the initiation of any abortive proceeding cannot be exclu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... forum is made available. (2) Even though by and large the law of limitation has been held to be a procedural law, there are exceptions to this principle. Generally the law of limitation which is in vogue on the date of the commencement of the action governs it. But there are certain exceptions to this principle. The new law of limitation providing a longer period cannot revive a dead remedy. Nor can it suddenly extinguish a vested right of action by providing for a shorter period of limitation." 47. This statement of the law was referred to with approval in Vinod Gurudas Raikar v. National Insurance Co. Ltd., (1991) 4 SCC 333 as follows:- "7. It is true that the appellant earlier could file an application even more than six months after the expiry of the period of limitation, but can this be treated to be a right which the appellant had acquired. The answer is in the negative. The claim to compensation which the appellant was entitled to, by reason of the accident was certainly enforceable as a right. So far the period of limitation for commencing a legal proceeding is concerned, it is adjectival in nature, and has to be governed by the new Act - subject to two conditions. If u ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... eriod prescribed for such suit by the Indian Limitation Act, 1908, whichever period expires earlier:" 49. The reason for the said principle is not far to seek. Though periods of limitation, being procedural law, are to be applied retrospectively, yet if a shorter period of limitation is provided by a later amendment to a statute, such period would render the vested right of action contained in the statute nugatory as such right of action would now become time barred under the amended provision. 50. This aspect of the matter is brought out rather well in Thirumalai Chemicals Ltd. v. Union of India, (2011) 6 SCC 739 as follows: "22. Law is well settled that the manner in which the appeal has to be filed, its form and the period within which the same has to be filed are matters of procedure, while the right conferred on a party to file an appeal is a substantive right. The question is, while dealing with a belated appeal under Section 19(2) of FEMA, the application for condonation of delay has to be dealt with under the first proviso to sub-section (2) of Section 52 of FERA or under the proviso to sub-section (2) of Section 19 of FEMA. For answering that question it is necessary to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed as prospective." 51. This judgment was strongly relied upon by Shri A.K. Sanghi for the proposition that the law in force on the date of the institution of an appeal, irrespective of the date of accrual of the cause of action for filing an appeal, will govern the period of limitation. Ordinarily, this may well be the case. As has been noticed above, periods of limitation being procedural in nature would apply retrospectively. On the facts in the judgment in the Thirumalai case, it was held that the repealed provision contained in the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, namely, Section 52 would not apply to an appeal filed long after 1.6.2000 when the Foreign Exchange Management Act came into force, repealing the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. It is significant to note that Section 52(2) of the repealed Act provided a period of limitation of 45 plus 45 days and no more whereas Section 19(2) of FEMA provided for 45 days with no cap thereafter provided sufficient cause to condone delay is shown. On facts, in that case, the appeal was held to be properly instituted under Section 19, which as has been stated earlier, had no cap to condonation of delay. It was, therefore, held that th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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