Section 372 — Exclusion of time taken for copy. Successor to s.268 of the 1961 Act.
Section 372 is in Chapter XVIII — Appeals Revisions and Alternate Dispute Resolutions, which runs from section 356 to section 389.
In computing the limitation period for an appeal or an application under the Act, two things are left out: the day on which the order complained of was served, and — where the assessee was not given a copy of the order when the notice of it was served — the time required to obtain a copy. It applies to appeals and applications alike, and operates automatically on the computation rather than as a power to condone delay.
An assessee should not lose part of his limitation period to the day of service or to the delay in getting the order he has to appeal against; the section removes both from the count.
| What | Figure | The condition on it | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Periods excluded from limitation | The day of service of the order, plus the time required to obtain a copy | The copying time is excluded only where the assessee was not provided with a copy of the order when the notice of the order was served | 372 |
Start the count from the day after service, not the day of service. If the order itself came with the notice, no copying time is excluded — the exclusion in the second limb is conditional on a copy not having been provided at that point, so keep evidence of what was actually served and, if a copy had to be applied for, of the dates of application and delivery.
An assessee is served on 4 September with notice of an order but is not given a copy of the order itself; he applies for one and receives it on 19 September. In computing limitation for his appeal, 4 September drops out because it is the day the order complained of was served, and the fifteen days spent obtaining the copy drop out too, because no copy was provided when the notice of the order was served. Had the copy been handed over with the notice on 4 September, only that one day would have come out of the count. The section does no more than that — it is not a power to condone delay, and it removes nothing else from the computation.
In the arithmetic of filing an appeal or an application under the Act, and in any objection that the filing was late — the point is taken before the authority hearing the limitation objection. What decides it is a narrow question of fact: whether a copy of the order accompanied the notice of the order when it was served.
the day on which the order complained of was served and, if the assessee was not provided with a copy of the order when the notice of the order was served, the time required to obtain a copy of such order, shall be excluded
See the full 1961 to 2025 concordance.