Limitation Act Section 5 excluded for delayed revision under the Meghalaya VAT framework

Section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963 was held inapplicable to a revision under Section 70 of the Meghalaya Value Added Tax Act, 2003 because the Act operates as a complete code on limitation and condonation. The Court noted that the Act expressly allows condonation in appeals under Sections 65, 68 and 69, but Section 70 fixes a sixty-day period for revision without conferring any power to admit a delayed filing. Section 110 applies only Sections 4 and 12 of the Limitation Act for computing limitation under Chapter X, so Section 5 could not be imported by implication. The condonation application was therefore not maintainable.

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Issues: Whether Section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963 applies to a revision filed under Section 70 of the Meghalaya Value Added Tax Act, 2003 so as to permit condonation of delay.

Analysis: The scheme of the Meghalaya Value Added Tax Act, 2003 was examined as a whole. The Act provided express provisions for limitation and condonation in some remedies, namely appeals under Sections 65, 68 and 69, but Section 70, which governs revision before the High Court, prescribed a period of sixty days without conferring any power on the High Court to admit a delayed revision. Section 110 was also considered, which made only Sections 4 and 12 of the Limitation Act applicable in computing limitation under Chapter X. On that structure, and in light of the settled principle that a special statute may exclude the Limitation Act by necessary implication where it is a complete code, the Court held that Section 5 could not be imported into Section 70.

Conclusion: Section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963 was held inapplicable to a revision under Section 70 of the Meghalaya Value Added Tax Act, 2003, and the application for condonation of delay was not maintainable.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a special fiscal statute forms a complete code and expressly provides condonation in some provisions but omits it in the revision provision, Section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963 stands excluded by necessary implication.

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