Limitation under SICA appeal provisions starts on effective communication to the aggrieved person, not third-party receipt of the order.

For limitation under section 25 of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985, the appeal period runs from effective communication of the BIFR order to the aggrieved person, not from a copy being sent to a third party. Regulation 15 requires Board orders to be authenticated and communicated by the Secretary or an authorised officer, supporting the view that "issued" means furnished to the person entitled to appeal. On that construction, a certified copy handed to the appellant marked the relevant starting point, so the appeal was within time and the objection of limitation was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether the period of limitation for filing an appeal under section 25 of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 commenced from the date when a copy of the BIFR order was supplied to a third party and later came to the appellant's knowledge, or from the date when the certified copy of the order was furnished to the appellant.

Analysis: Section 25 permits an appeal by any person aggrieved within forty-five days from the date on which a copy of the order is issued to him, with power to condone delay up to sixty days. Regulation 15 requires Board orders to be authenticated and communicated by the Secretary or an authorised officer. The expression used in the statute is "issued", but in the context of limitation it must be read as effective communication to the aggrieved person; otherwise a person who was not a party before the Board could be deprived of the appellate remedy. The starting point could not be treated as the date on which a copy was sent to the Central Board of Direct Taxes, since that was not issuance to the petitioner. The relevant date was when the certified copy was actually handed over to the petitioner.

Conclusion: The appeal was within time when computed from 9-9-1998, and the view that it was barred by limitation was incorrect.

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