Section 4 of the Limitation Act, 1963, dealing with “Expiry of prescribed period when court is closed”, lays down that if the prescribed limitation period for any suit, appeal or application expires on a day when the court is closed, the suit, appeal or application may be instituted, preferred or made on the day when the court reopens:
“4. Expiry of prescribed period when court is closed.—Where the prescribed period for any suit, appeal or application expires on a day when the court is closed, the suit, appeal or application may be instituted, preferred or made on the day when the court reopens.
Explanation.—A court shall be deemed to be closed on any day within the meaning of this section if during any part of its normal working hours it remains closed on that day.”
The Explanation under Section 4 of the Act makes it clear that a court shall be deemed to be closed on any day if during any part of its normal working hours it remains closed on that day.
Now, what happens on a non-working Saturday in a court, i.e., where it is non-working for judges but the Registry in the court is open? Is it considered that the court is closed on that day? Will the limitation period get extended due to such non-working Saturday?
Dealing with this issue, in the case of Ajay Gupta v. Raju, (2016) 14 SCC 314, the Supreme Court held that it may be a non-working Saturday for the Judges for enabling them to write judgments and regular hearing of cases is not heard on a non-working Saturday, but it is not a holiday for the Registry in the court.
It was accordingly held that such a non-working Saturday cannot be regarded as a court holiday. In the above case, the last date for filing suit was 31-12-2010, i.e., the last day of winter vacation for court and the next day (01-01-2011) was a non-working Saturday, in such circumstances, filing of suit on 03-01-2011 (Monday) was held to be barred by limitation since non-working Saturday cannot be treated as a closed day of court so as to attract Section 4 of the Limitation Act.
