Limitation during court vacation: election petition filed on reopening was treated as timely under the General Clauses Act.

Where the limitation period for filing an election petition expired during a High Court summer vacation declared as closed holidays, Section 10 of the General Clauses Act applied and the petition filed on reopening was within time. The Court distinguished authority dealing with a day when the court was actually open, and held that the Registrar's availability during vacation did not make the court open for valid presentation of the petition. Because the election-law definition of "public holiday" did not control the issue, the governing factors were the High Court calendar and the absence of authority to receive such petitions during closure. The time-bar dismissal therefore could not stand.

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Issues: Whether an election petition filed on the day the High Court reopened after summer vacation was within time when the limitation period expired during a period declared to be a closed holiday, and whether the Registrar could validly receive the petition during that closure.

Analysis: The limitation for filing the election petition expired while the High Court was closed for summer vacation under the court calendar notified as closed holidays. Section 10 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 applies where an act or proceeding is required to be done within a prescribed period and the court or office is closed on the last day of that period. The Court distinguished the earlier decision relied upon by the High Court, because that case concerned a day when the court was open, whereas here the relevant period expired during a closed holiday. The Court also held that the mere availability of the Registrar and other ministerial staff during vacation did not mean that the court was open for the legal presentation of an election petition, since the prescribed procedure required further judicial action and the rules did not authorize receipt of such petitions during a closed holiday. The definition of "public holiday" in the election law did not govern this question, as the issue was controlled by the High Court calendar and Section 10 of the General Clauses Act.

Conclusion: The petition was treated as filed in due time on the reopening day, and the dismissal of the election petition as time-barred could not be sustained.

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