Yes. The plaintiff can file a suit on the reopening day.
Section 4 of the Limitation Act lays down that where the period of limitation prescribed 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 that the Court re-opens.
The section gives expression to the general principle of law enunciated by the maxims Lex non cogit ad impossibly the law does not compel a man to do that which he cannot possibly perform and Actus curie neminem gravabitan act of the Court shall prejudice no man.
Image Source: blog.cupahr.org
ADVERTISEMENTS:
This section does not in any way extend the period of limitation, nor does it furnish any date for computation of time, it merely embodies a rule of elementary justice that if the time allowed by statute to do an act or to take a proceeding expires on a day when the Court is closed, it may be done on the next sitting of the court. [Raja Pandey vs. Sheopujan Pande 1942 A. I. R. All. 429: A. L. J. 592 (F. B.)].
According to explanation to Sec. 4 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. In other words, if a court remains closed only for a few hours during its working hours on any day, it will be treated as closed on that day and the suit, appeal or application may be instituted, preferred or made on the next re-opening day.
To illustrate, if the court re-opens on June 18 and the prescribed period for filing suit, appeal or application expires on the day when the Court is closed (say on June 17), and on June 18, when the Court reopens the Court is again closed after function ship for some time, it is permissible to file suit, appeal or application, as the case may be, on the next working day.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
The general principle of law is this. When a party is prevented from doing a thing in Court on a particular day, by the act of the Court itself, as for instance, on account of the closing of the Court, and not by any act of his own, he is entitled -to do it at the first subsequent opportunity.