- (1.) THE following questions have been referred to the Full Bench for its opinion : (1) Whether the benefit of Section 12 (2) of the Limitation Act can be allowed to an applicant in reference application filed under Section 22 of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, for the days spent in obtaining the certified copy of the order of the Tribunal against which reference is sought ? (2) If the benefit of Section 12 (2) cannot be allowed, whether the delay in filing the reference application can be condoned under Section 5 of the Limitation Act by extending the period of limitation by the number of days spent in obtaining the certified copy of the order of the Tribunal against which reference is sought ?
(2.) THE writ-petitioner, who is an assessee (hereinafter called the assessee), filed an application for reference under Section 22 (1) of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948 (hereinafter called the Sales Tax Act), of some questions of law for opinion of the High Court against the decision of the Sales Tax Tribunal dated 15th February, 1977. The limitation for filing of that application is sixty days from the passing of an order in appeal by the Tribunal as provided by Section 22 (1) of the Sales Tax Act. The application for reference was filed on the twenty-seventh day after the expiry of sixty days and the delay in filing of the same was occasioned due to the fact that the assessee had filed an application for a certified copy of the judgment of the Tribunal against which reference was sought, which took the copying department thirty-five days in preparing the copy. Before the Sales Tax Tribunal, the counsel for the sales tax department took up the preliminary objection that the reference application was beyond the period of limitation and as such should be dismissed. That objection of the counsel for the department prevailed with the Tribunal and the reference application was dismissed as barred by time by order dated 20th September, 1977. Against this order of the Tribunal, the assessee has come up in writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.
(3.) INITIALLY, the writ petition was heard by a Division Bench where a conflict in some Division Bench decisions of this Court was noticed and the matter was referred to the Full Bench for resolving the conflict. That is how the matter has been placed before us.;