Covid-19 limitation exclusion governs appeal delay computation under Goa VAT law; refusal to condone delay was unsustainable.

Where an appellate order was served during the period covered by the Supreme Court's Covid-19 limitation directions, that excluded period had to be left out while computing limitation under section 35 of the Goa Value Added Tax Act, 2005. The appeal period therefore ran from 01.03.2022, and the view that only 90 days remained from that date was incorrect on the facts. The refusal to condone delay was unsustainable, and the condonation application had to be reconsidered afresh on merits under section 35(2).

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Issues: Whether the delay in filing the appeal under section 35 of the Goa Value Added Tax Act, 2005 was liable to be condoned in view of the Supreme Court orders extending and excluding limitation during the Covid-19 pandemic; and whether the refusal to condone delay on the footing that the appeal was beyond 90 days from 01.03.2022 was sustainable.

Analysis: Section 35 permits an appeal within sixty days and empowers condonation up to one year on showing reasonable cause. The assessment order was served during the period covered by the Supreme Court's limitation-extension orders. Those orders directed exclusion of the period from 15.03.2020 to 28.02.2022 for limitation purposes in judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings. The limitation for filing the appeal against an order served on 11.06.2020 therefore had to be computed after exclusion of that period, and the starting point of limitation was to be treated as 01.03.2022. The authority's view that only 90 days from 01.03.2022 were available was held to be incorrect on the facts, and the refusal to condone delay was found unsustainable.

Conclusion: The refusal to condone delay was set aside and the question of condonation was required to be reconsidered afresh on merits in accordance with section 35(2) of the Goa Value Added Tax Act, 2005.

Final Conclusion: The assessee obtained relief against the rejection of delay condonation, and the matter was sent back for fresh adjudication of the condonation application.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an order appealed against is served during the period excluded by the Supreme Court's Covid-19 limitation directions, that excluded period must be left out while computing limitation and any outer limit for condonation.

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