Amended sales tax revision limitation clause expressly bars condonation beyond forty-five days under the Limitation Act.

Section 38 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959, as amended in 1986, allows revision petitions to be filed within ninety days and permits the High Court to admit a delayed petition only within a further forty-five days on sufficient cause shown. Read with section 29(2) of the Limitation Act, 1963, the proviso was treated as expressly excluding section 5 for delays beyond that outer limit. Authorities under different statutory schemes were considered inapplicable because they did not contain a similarly restricted condonation clause. The resulting position is that revision petitions filed after forty-five days beyond the prescribed period are not maintainable.

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Issues: Whether the amended proviso to section 38 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 expressly excludes the application of section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963 so as to bar condonation of delay beyond forty-five days in filing revision petitions.

Analysis: Section 38 prescribes a period of ninety days for filing a revision and, after the 1986 amendment, permits the High Court to admit a petition filed after that period only within a further period of forty-five days if sufficient cause is shown. Under section 29(2) of the Limitation Act, 1963, sections 4 to 24 apply to special or local laws only to the extent they are not expressly excluded. The amended proviso, by fixing an additional outer limit of forty-five days, was treated as a clear restriction on the power to condone delay and as an express exclusion of section 5 for delays beyond that limit. Authorities dealing with different statutory schemes were found inapplicable because they did not involve a similarly restricted condonation clause.

Conclusion: The proviso to section 38 expressly excludes section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963 for delays beyond forty-five days, and the revision petitions filed after that period were not maintainable.

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