Saving clause preserves repealed-law appeal limits, and delay beyond the statutory maximum cannot be condoned.

A saving clause in a repealing statute can preserve the operation of the repealed enactment for pending or related proceedings, including the appellate remedy and limitation scheme. Here, proceedings arising from a penalty under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 continued to be governed by that Act despite the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, because section 49 preserved offences and connected remedies. The appeal was therefore subject to section 52(2) of the repealed Act, which allowed filing within 45 days and condonation only up to 90 days on sufficient cause. An appeal filed after 90 days could not be entertained because the appellate forum had no power to condone delay beyond that statutory maximum.

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Issues: Whether an appeal arising from proceedings under the repealed Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 remained governed by that Act despite the enactment of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, and whether an appeal filed beyond the statutory outer limit of 90 days could be entertained.

Analysis: The appeal challenged a penalty imposed under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973. The Tribunal held that the repeal by the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 did not displace the operation of the repealed Act for such proceedings, because the saving provision in section 49 preserved offences and related remedies under the repealed regime. The Tribunal further held that the appeal was a continuation of proceedings under the repealed Act and was therefore governed by section 52(2) of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973, which permitted filing within 45 days and condonation only up to 90 days on sufficient cause. Since the appeal had been filed after 90 days from receipt of the order, the Tribunal found that it lacked power to condone the delay.

Conclusion: The appeal was governed by the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973, and the delay beyond 90 days was not condonable.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a repealing statute contains a saving clause preserving proceedings under the repealed enactment, the appeal and limitation regime of the repealed Act continue to govern; a statutory appellate forum cannot entertain an appeal filed beyond the maximum condonable period fixed by that Act.

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