Limitation period reckoning: time spent pursuing the writ petition to be counted, and appeal filing permitted.

Petitioner was permitted to file an appeal to the tribunal because the tribunal's e hearing infrastructure is operational and defects-scrutiny has commenced, enabling effective adjudication; permission to prosecute the appeal was therefore granted. The court directed that the period spent prosecuting the writ petition shall be reckoned for purposes of limitation when considering any limitation objection to the appeal. The petition and pending applications were disposed of on those terms, allowing the appeal to proceed with the writ prosecution period counted for limitation reckoning.

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Issues: (i) Whether the petitioner should be permitted to file an appeal before the tribunal; (ii) Whether the time spent in pursuing the writ petition should be taken into account for the purpose of limitation for filing the appeal.

Issue (i): Whether the petitioner should be permitted to file an appeal before the tribunal.

Analysis: The Court noted that the tribunal's IT infrastructure has been put in place and hearings are being conducted in a virtual/e-court enabled mode with stabilized systems and scrutiny/marking of defects having commenced; on that basis the Court considered allowing the petitioner to proceed to file the appeal.

Conclusion: Permission granted to the petitioner to file the appeal.

Issue (ii): Whether the time spent in pursuing the writ petition should be taken into account for the purpose of limitation for filing the appeal.

Analysis: The Court directed that the period consumed in prosecuting the writ petition shall be taken into account if limitation is to be reckoned for filing the appeal, thereby addressing the relevance of that period to any limitation objection.

Conclusion: The time spent in pursuing the writ petition shall be taken into account for limitation purposes in filing the appeal.

Final Conclusion: The petition is disposed of permitting the petitioner to file the appeal and directing that time spent in the writ petition be reckoned for limitation purposes; the petition and any pending applications stand disposed of.

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