Bona fide pursuit of writ proceedings can be excluded in computing delay for a statutory appeal, enabling condonation.

Time spent in bona fide prosecution of earlier writ proceedings may be excluded when computing delay for a statutory appeal under the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959, where the appeal is filed pursuant to judicial liberty. Applying that approach, the effective delay fell within the prescribed outer limit under the proviso to section 31, and the refusal to condone delay was found unsustainable. A liberal approach to limitation was required on the facts, and the appellate authority was directed to entertain the appeal and decide it on merits in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether, for the purpose of condoning delay in filing the statutory appeal under the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959, the period during which the assessee bona fide pursued writ proceedings before the High Court was liable to be excluded.

Analysis: The appeal was filed pursuant to liberty granted in the earlier writ proceedings and accompanied by a petition to condone delay. The delay period was to be computed after excluding the time spent in bona fide prosecution of the matter before the High Court. On that basis, the effective delay fell within the outer limit prescribed under the proviso to section 31. The impugned authority declined to condone delay merely by treating the entire period as delay, without applying the settled principle that time spent in bona fide proceedings before the Court may be excluded while considering limitation. A liberal approach was required in the facts of the case.

Conclusion: The rejection of the condonation petition was unsustainable and the assessee was entitled to have the appeal entertained.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition succeeded, the delay rejection was set aside, and the appellate authority was directed to take up the appeal and decide it on merits in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: Time spent in bona fide prosecution of earlier proceedings before the High Court can be excluded while computing delay for filing a statutory appeal, and limitation should be applied with a liberal approach where the litigant acted pursuant to judicial liberty.

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