Amended appeal limitation applies on filing date, so condonation is confined to the period allowed under the new rule.

The amended limitation regime in section 31 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act applied to an appeal filed after the amendment came into force, because the governing law is the law in force on the date of filing. The earlier position could not continue merely because the assessment year related to a prior period. The amendment restricted condonation of delay to fifteen days beyond the initial thirty-day filing period, so the appeal could not be entertained beyond that limit except to the extent expressly permitted by the amended provision.

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Issues: Whether the amended section 31 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959, limiting the period for filing an appeal and condonation of delay, governed an appeal filed after the amendment came into force.

Analysis: The appeal was filed on a date when the amended provision had already come into operation. The amendment restricted the right to seek condonation of delay to fifteen days beyond the initial thirty-day period. The Tribunal's view that the pre-amendment position would continue to apply merely because the assessment year related to an earlier period was held to be incorrect, since the operative law governing the filing of the appeal was the law in force on the date of filing.

Conclusion: The amended section 31 applied, and the appeal could not be entertained beyond the prescribed period except to the limited extent permitted by the amended provision.

Ratio Decidendi: The maintainability of an appeal is governed by the limitation and condonation regime in force on the date of filing, and an amended procedural limitation provision applies to appeals filed after its commencement.

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