Condonation of delay excluded under the SARFAESI appeal scheme; appellate tribunal lacks power to extend time.

A special statute prescribing a fixed 30-day period for appeal can exclude condonation of delay by necessary implication, so Section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963 does not apply through Section 29(2). Comparing the 2002 Act with the 1993 banking recovery statute, the Court noted that Parliament omitted any express power to condone delay under Section 18 of the 2002 Act, consistent with its scheme of speedy enforcement and recovery. The Debts Recovery Appellate Tribunal therefore has no power to condone delay in filing an appeal under Section 18, and the challenge to dismissal of the delayed appeal failed.

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Issues: Whether the Debts Recovery Appellate Tribunal has power to condone delay in filing an appeal under Section 18 of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002.

Analysis: Section 18 of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 prescribes a period of thirty days for filing an appeal to the Appellate Tribunal and does not contain any express provision enabling condonation of delay. Section 29(2) of the Limitation Act, 1963 applies the provisions of Section 4 to Section 24, including Section 5, to special laws only when such application is not expressly or by necessary implication excluded. Comparing Section 18 with Section 20 of the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993, the Court found that Parliament deliberately omitted any power of condonation under Section 18, though such power exists under the 1993 Act. The scheme and object of the 2002 Act, aimed at speedy enforcement and recovery, also support exclusion of the Limitation Act to that extent.

Conclusion: The Appellate Tribunal has no power to condone delay in filing an appeal under Section 18 of the 2002 Act, and the negative answer is against the appellant.

Final Conclusion: The challenge to the Appellate Tribunal's dismissal of the delayed appeal failed, and the petition was dismissed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a special statute prescribes a fixed limitation period for appeal and, by its scheme and comparison with a cognate enactment, excludes a condonation power, Section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963 does not apply either directly or through Section 29(2).

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