Certified copy time excluded in appeal limitation where rules require the copy to accompany the memorandum.

Where appellate rules required the memorandum to be accompanied by a certified copy of the order appealed against, the time spent in obtaining that copy was excluded in computing limitation. The court treated "certified copy" as having the special meaning under the Evidence Act, namely a copy obtained on application and payment of the prescribed fee. On that basis, the period taken to secure the certified copies filed with the appeals had to be left out of the limitation calculation. The assessee's appeals were therefore treated as within time, and the dismissal of the appeals as time-barred was held to be erroneous.

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Issues: Whether, for an appeal to the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal under the Travancore Income-tax Act, the assessee was entitled to exclude the time spent in obtaining certified copies of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner's orders, and whether the appeals were therefore within limitation.

Analysis: The applicable provision allowed an assessee to appeal within sixty days of communication of the appellate order, and the limitation law excluded the time requisite for obtaining a copy required for the appeal. The appeal rules required the memorandum to be accompanied by a certified copy of the order appealed against, and the expression "certified copy" was treated as having the special meaning given by Section 76 of the Evidence Act, namely, a copy obtained on application and payment of the prescribed fee. On that basis, the period taken to obtain the certified copies actually filed with the appeals was liable to be excluded in computing limitation.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to exclude the time taken to obtain the certified copies, and the appeals were in time; the dismissal of the appeals as time-barred was erroneous.

Final Conclusion: The reference was answered in favour of the assessee, affirming that the appeals before the Tribunal were not barred by limitation.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the appellate rules require a certified copy to accompany the appeal, the time spent in obtaining that certified copy under the Evidence Act is excluded in computing limitation for the appeal.

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