Limitation under special tax law: Section 5 of the Limitation Act cannot extend the revision period under Assam VAT rules.

Section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963 does not apply to a revision under section 81(1) of the Assam Value Added Tax Act, 2003, because the special statute makes only sections 4 and 12 of the Limitation Act applicable for computing limitation. The Act was treated as a complete code for revisional remedies and time limits, and the omission of section 5 was taken as deliberate. As a result, delay beyond the statutory sixty-day period cannot be condoned by resort to section 29(2) of the Limitation Act, and delay-condonation applications in such revisions are not maintainable.

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Issues: Whether section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963 applies to a revision filed under section 81(1) of the Assam Value Added Tax Act, 2003.

Analysis: Section 81(1) prescribes a revision to the High Court within sixty days, while section 84 of the Act makes only sections 4 and 12 of the Limitation Act applicable in computing limitation. The statutory scheme was treated as a complete code governing appellate and revisional remedies and time limits. In that setting, the omission of section 5 was held to be deliberate, and the power to condone delay could not be read into the provision by invoking section 29(2) of the Limitation Act. The Court relied on the settled principle that where the special law expressly or by necessary implication excludes the other provisions of the Limitation Act, delay cannot be condoned beyond the period prescribed by that special law.

Conclusion: Section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963 does not apply to a revision under section 81(1) of the Assam Value Added Tax Act, 2003, and the delay-condonation applications were not maintainable.

Final Conclusion: The revisional remedy under the Assam Value Added Tax Act remained confined to the statutory period, and the connected revisions could not be entertained after expiry of limitation.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a special statute limits the applicability of the Limitation Act to specified provisions and excludes section 5 expressly or by necessary implication, the court has no power to condone delay beyond the period fixed by that statute.

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