Petitioner Granted Liberty to Address Jurisdictional Errors on Limitation Period; HC Observations to be Disregarded.

The SC disposed of the special leave petition, granting the petitioner the liberty to address jurisdictional errors related to the limitation period before the appropriate authority. The HC's order was passed without formal notice to the respondent-Department. The SC instructed that the Department could present submissions if contentions are raised, and the appropriate authority should disregard the HC's observations when evaluating the jurisdictional error. Pending applications were disposed of.

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Issues involved: Lack of formal notice to respondent-Department and jurisdictional error regarding limitation period

Upon hearing the counsel, the Court noted that the impugned order was passed without issuing a formal notice to the respondent-Department, despite the standing counsel for the Department being present in Court. The Court disposed of the special leave petition, reserving liberty for the petitioner to raise contentions regarding the jurisdictional error vis-a-vis the limitation period before the appropriate authority. This was due to the High Court passing the order without the benefit of the respondent-Department's response, allowing the Department to make submissions on pertinent points if such contentions are raised. The Court emphasized that the appropriate authority should not be influenced by the High Court's observations in the impugned order when considering the jurisdictional error in the context of the limitation period. Pending applications were disposed of accordingly.

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