Limitation under SARFAESI appeals excludes condonation of delay and bars application of the Limitation Act,

An appeal under Section 18 of the SARFAESI Act is confined to thirty days, and the statute contains no express power to extend that period. Applying the principle that Sections 4 to 24 of the Limitation Act apply to a special law only when not expressly or by necessary implication excluded, the Court concluded that the SARFAESI scheme excludes such application because it is intended to secure speedy recovery and finality. The reference in Section 18(2) to the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act regulates disposal after a valid appeal is entertained and does not authorise admission of a time-barred appeal. Accordingly, Section 29(2) of the Limitation Act does not apply and the DRAT has no power to condone delay.

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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, and whether Sections 29(2) and 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963 apply to such appeal.

Analysis: The statutory scheme of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 shows that the appeal under Section 18 is confined to a period of thirty days and that the Act contains no express provision conferring power to extend limitation. The Court applied the settled principle that Sections 4 to 24 of the Limitation Act, 1963 operate in relation to a special law only where their application is not expressly or by necessary implication excluded. Examining the object and structure of the special enactment, the Court held that it is designed for speedy recovery of dues and finality of proceedings, and that the absence of a condonation provision in Section 18 was a conscious legislative choice. The Tribunal under the scheme was treated as not being a civil court for this purpose, and the reference to the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993 in Section 18(2) was held to regulate disposal after an appeal is entertained, not to confer power to entertain a time-barred appeal.

Conclusion: Section 29(2) of the Limitation Act, 1963 does not apply to an appeal under Section 18 of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002, and the Debts Recovery Appellate Tribunal has no power to condone delay in filing such appeal.

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