32. In light of the above, this Court is of the opinion that, as per Section 21(5) of the N.I.A Act, read with the rule 5 of Delhi High Court Rules, though the initial filing was within time, the re-filing of the five appeals in May and June 2023 has to be construed as a fresh institution as the same is beyond the 30 days aggregate period of delay permissible under the Rules. Some of the decisions above hold that discretion can be exercised under Section 5 of the Limitation Act of 1963, by the Court for condoning delay in re-filing and some decisions hold that Section 5 would not apply. Either way, in order to exercise discretion to condone delay, it needs to be noted that the N.I.A Act is a special statute which prescribes an outer limit of 90 days under Sec. 21. Under such circumstances, this Court, is of the opinion that even delay in refiling, which is beyond the 30 days permissible limit under Rule 5 of the DHC Rules, would not be liable to be condoned without power being exercised under Section 5 of the Limitation Act of 1963. The said question whether power under Section 5 of the Limitation Act of 1963 can be exercised for condoning delay under Section of the N.I.A Act, 2008, is pending before the Supreme Court . Considering the period of delay in re-filing is more than the aggregate period permitted under the Delhi High Court Rules, the applications for condonation of delay are not liable to be allowed. The same are accordingly dismissed. This would, however, be subject to decision, which may be rendered by the Supreme Court in Farhan Sheikh(supra) and the connected matters.”
