Limitation for reference applications runs from communication of an adverse order, not from a secret or uncommunicated decision.

For limitation purposes, an adverse Tribunal order is not treated as effectively passed until it is communicated, or otherwise pronounced or published so that the affected party has a reasonable opportunity of knowing it. Where the order was made in the absence of the parties without prior intimation, the sixty-day period for seeking a reference to the High Court ran from communication of the order, not from the date it was signed or passed. The reference application was therefore within time, and rejection as time-barred was erroneous.

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Issues: Whether the period of sixty days for applying to the Tribunal to refer questions of law to the High Court under the sales tax ordinance began from the date of the Tribunal's order or from the date on which the order was communicated to the applicant.

Analysis: The application was initially rejected as time-barred on the footing that limitation ran from the date on which the Tribunal passed its order. The Court held that where an order is pronounced in the absence of the parties and no prior intimation of the pronouncement is given, the order cannot be treated as effectively passed for limitation purposes until it is communicated, or at least pronounced or published in such a manner that the affected party has a reasonable opportunity of knowing it. This approach was supported by the principle that limitation for a remedial application should not begin before the aggrieved party knows, or can fairly be deemed to know, of the adverse order. The comparison with a different provision of the Income-tax Act did not alter that conclusion.

Conclusion: The sixty-day period was to be computed from the date of communication of the order, so the reference application was within time and the Tribunal erred in rejecting it as barred by limitation.

Ratio Decidendi: For limitation purposes, an adverse order is deemed passed only when it is communicated, or otherwise pronounced or published so as to give the affected party a reasonable opportunity of knowing it; limitation does not run from a secret or uncommunicated order.

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