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Judgment
O R D E R
02.08.2022: Heard learned counsel for the Appellant. This Appeal has been filed against order dated 20.02.2022 passed by the Adjudicating Authority (National Company Law Tribunal), New Delhi Bench-V. This Appeal has been filed on 04.07.2022. Learned counsel for the Appellant submits that the Appeal having been filed on reopening day after summer vacation and the Court was closed after 04.06.2022 and opened on 04.07.2022, hence the Appeal is within time. He has placed reliance on Section 10 of General Clauses Act and also relied on judgment of Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of “Sagufa Ahmed & Ors. vs. Upper Assam Plywood Products (P) Ltd. & Ors., (2021) 2 SCC 317”.
The order impugned was passed on 20.02.2022 and under the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court passed in Suo Moto Writ Petition the limitation is stood extended till 28.02.2022 and thereafter 90 days’ time to all litigants was allowed to file their Appeals. Period for limitation as allowed in Suo Moto Writ Petition came to an end on 31.05.2022. The submission of the learned counsel for the Appellant is that he cannot file appeal by electronic mode or by physical mode since the Court was closed for summer vacation, hence, period from 04.06.2022 to 04.7.2022 be excluded. Learned counsel for the Appellant himself has placed before this Court Notification dated 01.06.2022 issued by NCLAT, which provides as follows:-
“N O T I C E
It is informed that during the period of Annual Summer Vacation from 06.06.2022 to 01.07.2022 for the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi, the Registry shall function during this period.
The e-Filing of cases shall be operational and urgent matters may be taken up for hearing as per the decision of the Competent Authority upon e-mail being sent to the Ld. Registrar, NCLAT Principal Bench, e-mail: registrar-nclat@gov.in
During the period of vacation from 06.06.2022 to 01.07.2022 the sitting of this Appellate Tribunal (Principal Bench) will be on every Monday and Wednesday at 10:30 AM i.e., 06.06.2022, 08.06.2022, 13.06.2022, 15.06.2022, 20.06.2022, 22.06.2022, 27.06.2022 & 29.06.2022 to take up only the urgent matters for which the Board will be notified.”
In view of the above notification, the Registry was functional from 06.06.2022 to 01.07.2022. The notification further notices that in every week there were two sitting of the Court of the Appellate Tribunal on every Monday and Wednesday.
The reliance on the judgment of Hon’ble Supreme Court in “Sagufa Ahmed” (Supra) is with regard to provisions of Section 4 of the Limitation Act and Section 10 of General Clauses Act. Para 18 and 19 of the judgment are as follows:-
18.It may be useful in this regard to make a reference to Section 10 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 which reads as follows:
“10.Computation of time (1) Where, by any 19 [Central Act] or Regulation made after the commencement of this Act, any act or proceeding is directed or allowed to be done or taken in any Court or office on a certain day or within a prescribed period, then, if the Court or office is closed on that day or the last day of the prescribed period, the act or proceeding shall be considered as done or taken in due time if it is done or taken on the next day afterwards on which the Court or office is open:
Provided that nothing in this section shall apply to any act or proceeding to which the Indian Limitation Act, 1877 (15 of 1877), applies.
(2)This section applies also to all [Central Acts] and, Regulations made on or after the fourteenth day of January, 1887.”
19.The principle forming the basis of Section 10(1) of the General Clauses Act, also finds a place in Section 4 of the Limitation Act, 1963 which reads as follows:
“4.Expiry of prescribed period when court is closed.— Where the prescribed period for any suit, appeal or application expires on a day when the court is closed, the suit, appeal or application may be instituted, preferred or made on the day when the court reopens.
Explanation.— A court shall be deemed to be closed on any day within the meaning of this section if during any part of its normal working hours it remains closed on that day.”
There can be no dispute to the computation of period as per Section 4 of Limitation Act and Section 10 of the General Clauses Act, as extracted above. The present is not the case that the Appellate Tribunal was closed which prohibited the Appellant from filing the appeal. During the vacation, from 06.06.2022 to 01.07.2022, the Registry was open and Appeals were received physically and electronically by the litigants. The submission of learned counsel for the Appellant that the period of vacation from 04.06.2022 to 01.07.2022 be excluded cannot be accepted.
There being delay of more than 15 days in filing the Appeal, we are of the view that such delay cannot be condoned. The Appeal being barred by time, delay condonation application being I.A. No. 2433 of 2022 is dismissed. Consequently, Memo of Appeal is rejected.