It is settled law that periods of limitation are procedural in nature and would ordinarily be applied retrospectively. This, however, is subject to a rider. In New India Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Shanti Misra MANU/SC/0547/1975 : (1975) 2 SCC 840, this Court held:
5. On the plain language of Sections 110-A and 110-F there should be no difficulty in taking the view that the change in law was merely a change of forum i.e. a change of adjectival or procedural law and not of substantive law. It is a well-established proposition that such a change of law operates retrospectively and the person has to go to the new forum even if his cause of action or right of action accrued prior to the change of forum. He will have a vested right of action but not a vested right of forum. If by express words the new forum is made available only to causes of action arising after the creation of the forum, then the retrospective operation of the law is taken away. Otherwise the general rule is to make it retrospective.
46. In answering a question which arose Under Section 110A of the Motor Vehicles Act, this Court held:
7..."(1) Time for the purpose of filing the application Under Section 110-A did not start running before the constitution of the tribunal. Time had started running for the filing of the suit but before it had expired the forum was changed. And for the purpose of the changed forum, time could not be deemed to have started running before a remedy of going to the new forum is made available.
(2) Even though by and large the law of limitation has been held to be a procedural law, there are exceptions to this principle. Generally the law of limitation which is in vogue on the date of the commencement of the action governs it. But there are certain exceptions to this principle. The new law of limitation providing a longer period cannot revive a dead remedy. Nor can it suddenly extinguish a vested right of action by providing for a shorter period of limitation.
47. This statement of the law was referred to with approval in Vinod Gurudas Raikar v. National Insurance Co. Ltd. MANU/SC/0475/1991 : (1991) 4 SCC 333 as follows:
7. It is true that the Appellant earlier could file an application even more than six months after the expiry of the period of limitation, but can this be treated to be a right which the Appellant had acquired. The answer is in the negative. The claim to compensation which the Appellant was entitled to, by reason of the accident was certainly enforceable as a right. So far the period of limitation for commencing a legal proceeding is concerned, it is adjectival in nature, and has to be governed by the new Act--subject to two conditions. If under the repealing Act the remedy suddenly stands barred as a result of a shorter period of limitation, the same cannot be held to govern the case, otherwise the result will be to deprive the suitor of an accrued right. The second exception is where the new enactment leaves the claimant with such a short period for commencing the legal proceeding so as to make it unpractical for him to avail of the remedy. This principle has been followed by this Court in many cases and by way of illustration we would like to mention New India Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Smt. Shanti Misra [MANU/SC/0547/1975 : (1975) 2 SCC 840 : (1976) 2 SCR 266]. The husband of the Respondent in that case died in an accident in 1966. A period of two years was available to the Respondent for instituting a suit for recovery of damages. In March, 1967 the Claims Tribunal Under Section 110 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 was constituted, barring the jurisdiction of the civil court and prescribed 60 days as the period of limitation. The Respondent filed the application in July, 1967. It was held that not having filed a suit before March, 1967 the only remedy of the Respondent was by way of an application before the Tribunal. So far the period of limitation was concerned, it was observed that a new law of limitation providing for a shorter period cannot certainly extinguish a vested right of action. In view of the change of the law it was held that the application could be filed within a reasonable time after the constitution of the Tribunal; and, that the time of about four months taken by the Respondent in approaching the Tribunal after its constitution, could be held to be either reasonable time or the delay of about two months could be condoned under the proviso to Section 110-A(3).
Both these judgments were referred to and followed in Union of India v. Harnam Singh MANU/SC/0216/1993 : (1993) 2 SCC 162, see paragraph 12.
48. The aforesaid principle is also contained in Section 30(a) of the Limitation Act, 1963.
30. Provision for suits, etc., for which the prescribed period is shorter than the period prescribed by the Indian Limitation Act, 1908.--Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act,-
(a) any suit for which the period of limitation is shorter than the period of limitation prescribed by the Indian Limitation Act, 1908, may be instituted within a period of [seven years] next after the commencement of this Act or within the period prescribed for such suit by the Indian Limitation Act, 1908, whichever period expires earlier:
49. The reason for the said principle is not far to seek. Though periods of limitation, being procedural law, are to be applied retrospectively, yet if a shorter period of limitation is provided by a later amendment to a statute, such period would render the vested right of action contained in the statute nugatory as such right of action would now become time barred under the amended provision.
50. This aspect of the matter is brought out rather well in Thirumalai Chemicals Ltd. v. Union of India MANU/SC/0427/2011 : (2011) 6 SCC 739 as follows:
22. Law is well settled that the manner in which the appeal has to be filed, its form and the period within which the same has to be filed are matters of procedure, while the right conferred on a party to file an appeal is a substantive right. The question is, while dealing with a belated appeal Under Section 19(2) of FEMA, the application for condonation of delay has to be dealt with under the first proviso to Sub-section (2) of Section 52 of FERA or under the proviso to Sub-section (2) of Section 19 of FEMA. For answering that question it is necessary to examine the law on the point.
Substantive and procedural law
23. Substantive law refers to a body of rules that creates, defines and regulates rights and liabilities. Right conferred on a party to prefer an appeal against an order is a substantive right conferred by a statute which remains unaffected by subsequent changes in law, unless modified expressly or by necessary implication. Procedural law establishes a mechanism for determining those rights and liabilities and a machinery for enforcing them. Right of appeal being a substantive right always acts prospectively. It is trite law that every statute is prospective unless it is expressly or by necessary implication made to have retrospective operation.
24. Right of appeal may be a substantive right but the procedure for filing the appeal including the period of limitation cannot be called a substantive right, and an aggrieved person cannot claim any vested right claiming that he should be governed by the old provision pertaining to period of limitation. Procedural law is retrospective meaning thereby that it will apply even to acts or transactions under the repealed Act.
25. Law on the subject has also been elaborately dealt with by this Court in various decisions and reference may be made to a few of those decisions. This Court in Garikapati Veeraya v. N. Subbiah Choudhry [MANU/SC/0008/1957 : AIR 1957 SC 540], New India Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Shanti Misra [MANU/SC/0547/1975 : (1975) 2 SCC 840], Hitendra Vishnu Thakur v. State of Maharashtra [MANU/SC/0526/1994 : (1994) 4 SCC 602 : 1994 SCC (Cri) 1087], Maharaja Chintamani Saran Nath Shahdeo v. State of Bihar [MANU/SC/0643/1999 : (1999) 8 SCC 16] and Shyam Sunder v. Ram Kumar [MANU/SC/0405/2001 : (2001) 8 SCC 24], has elaborately discussed the scope and ambit of an amending legislation and its retrospectivity and held that every litigant has a vested right in substantive law but no such right exists in procedural law. This Court has held that the law relating to forum and limitation is procedural in nature whereas law relating to right of appeal even though remedial is substantive in nature.
Civil Appeal No. 4367 of 2004
Decided On: 23.04.2015
M.P. Steel Corporation Vs. Commissioner of Central Excise
Hon'ble Judges/Coram:
A.K. Sikri and Rohinton Fali Nariman, JJ.
Citation:(2015) 7 SCC 58
