Appeal forum and limitation are procedural: bona fide reliance on the applicable limitation view justified condonation of delay.

The right of appeal was treated as a vested substantive right, but the forum for exercising it was held to be procedural and governed by the law in force when the appeal was filed. On that basis, after the extension of the Indian Civil Procedure Code and Goa civil courts legislation, the appeal had to be filed in the Judicial Commissioner's Court, and filing there was proper. Limitation was also treated as procedural; because the appellants bona fide relied on the view that the Indian limitation period applied and acted within that period, the delay was held condonable as sufficient cause and just impediment. The appellate objection failed and the matter was restored for merits.

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Issues: (i) Whether, after the extension of the Indian Civil Procedure Code and the Goa civil courts legislation, the appeal lay to the Judicial Commissioner's Court; (ii) whether the appeal was barred by limitation and whether delay in filing it deserved condonation.

Issue (i): Whether, after the extension of the Indian Civil Procedure Code and the Goa civil courts legislation, the appeal lay to the Judicial Commissioner's Court.

Analysis: The right of appeal was treated as a vested substantive right arising when the suit was instituted, but the court in which that right must be exercised was held to be a matter of procedure. Once the repealing and extending legislation came into force, the old forum under the Portuguese Code could no longer govern the filing of the appeal. The new procedural regime fixed the proper appellate forum under the extended Indian Civil Procedure Code read with the Goa civil courts legislation.

Conclusion: The appeal was required to be filed in the Judicial Commissioner's Court and was properly filed there.

Issue (ii): Whether the appeal was barred by limitation and whether delay in filing it deserved condonation.

Analysis: The applicable limitation rule was held to be a complex and doubtful question. The Court treated limitation as procedural and accepted that, where the appellants bona fide proceeded on the view that the Indian limitation period applied and filed the appeal within that period, such conduct constituted sufficient cause and also amounted to just impediment under the Portuguese limitation provision. On that basis, the delay was condonable.

Conclusion: The delay was condoned and the appeal was not rejected as time-barred.

Final Conclusion: The appellate forum objection failed, the delay was excused, and the matter was restored for disposal on merits by the competent appellate court.

Ratio Decidendi: While the right of appeal is substantive, the forum for exercising it and the period within which it must be exercised are procedural matters governed by the law in force when the appellate remedy is pursued; bona fide reliance on an arguable view of limitation may constitute sufficient cause for condonation of delay.

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