Supreme Court of India
IN RE: COGNIZANCE FOR EXTENSION OF LIMITATIONMISCELLANEOUS APPLICATION NO. 665 OF 2021 IN (SMW (C) NO. 3 OF 2020) versus . on 23 September 2021
IN RE: COGNIZANCE FOR EXTENSION OF LIMITATIONMiscellaneous Application No. 665 of 2021
in
(SMW (C) No. 3 of 2020)
SEPTEMBER 23,2021
[N. V. RAMANA, CJI, L. NAGESWARA RAO ANDSURYA KANT, JJ.]
Covid-19 Pandemic – Limitation, extension of – On23.03.2020, this Court had directed extension of the period oflimitation in all proceedings before the Courts/Tribunals includingthis Court w.e.f. 15.03.2020 till further orders – On 08.03.2021,since there was reduction in prevalence of Covid-19 virus, an orderwas passed that in computing the period of limitation for any suit,appeal, application or proceeding, the period from 15.03.2020 till14.03.2021 would be excluded – Thereafter, there was a secondsurge in COVID-19 cases which had a devastating and debilitatingeffect – MA no.665 of 2021 was filed by Advocates on RecordAssociation seeking restoration of Order dated 23.03.2020 – Orderdated 23.03.2020 was restored and in continuation of the orderdated 08.03.2021, with directions that the period(s) of limitation,as prescribed under any general or special laws in respect of alljudicial or quasi-judicial proceedings, whether condonable or not,shall stand extended till further orders – There is consensus thatthere is no requirement for continuance of the initial order passedby this Court on 23.03.2020 and relaxation of the period oflimitation need not be continued any further, therefore, MA no.665of 2021 is disposed of with following directions: In computing theperiod of limitation for any suit, appeal, application or proceeding,the period from 15.03.2020 till 02.10.2021 shall stand excluded –Consequently, the balance period of limitation remaining as on15.03.2020, if any, shall become available with effect from03.10.2021 – In cases where the limitation would have expiredduring the period between 15.03.2020 till 02.10.2021,notwithstanding the actual balance period of limitation remaining,all persons shall have a limitation period of 90 days from 03.10.2021– In the event the actual balance period of limitation remaining,with effect from 03.10.2021, is greater than 90 days, that longer
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Aperiod shall apply – The period from 15.03.2020 till 02.10.2021shall also stand excluded in computing the periods prescribed underss.23 (4) and 29A of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996,s.12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 and provisos (b) and (c)of s.138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 and any otherlaws, which prescribe period(s) of limitation for institutingBproceedings, outer limits (within which the court or tribunal cancondone delay) and termination of proceedings – The Governmentof India shall amend the guidelines for containment zones, to state– “Regulated movement will be allowed for medical emergencies,provision of essential goods and services, and other necessaryCfunctions, such as, time bound applications, including for legalpurposes, and educational and job-related requirements.”
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION: Miscellaneous ApplicationNo. 665 of 2021 in SMW (C) No. 03 of 2020.
(Under Article 32 of The Constitution of India)D
K. K. Venugopal, AG, S. Niranjan Reddy, P. H. Parekh, SoumyaChakraborty, Vikas Singh, Sr. Advs., B. V. Balaram Das, Shivaji M.Jadhav, Manoj K. Mishra, Dr. Joseph S. Aristotle, Ms. Diksha Rai, NikhilJain, Atulesh Kumar, Dr. Aman Hingorani, Ms. Anzu Varkey, SachinSharma, Aljo Joseph, Varinder Kumar Sharma, Abhinav Ramkrishna,EMahfooz Ahsan Nazki, Polanki Gowtham, Shaik Mohamad Haneef, T.Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy, Amitabh Sinha, K. V. Girish Chowdary, SameerParekh, Kshatrashal Raj, Ms. Tanya Chaudhry, Ms. PratyushaPriyadarshini, Ms. Nitika Pandey, Sanjai Kumar Pathak, Ms. ShashiPathak, Amit Sharma, Dipesh Sinha, Ms. Pallavi Barua, Prateek Kumar,FAshok Nijhawan, Aman Bhalla, Ms. Anindita Mitra, Pawan Reley, AkshayLodhi, Vinod Sharma, Joydip Roy, Sajal Awasthi, Binod Kumar Singh,Parijat Som, Yashvardhan, Apoorv Shukla, Ms. Smita Kant, Ms. IshitaFarsaiya, Ms. Prabhleen Kaur, Ms. Kritika Nagpal, Ms. Bhavya Bhatia,Arjun Garg, Aakash Nandolia, Ms. Sagun Srivastava, Ms. Sunieta Ojha,P. I. Jose, Prashant K. Sharma, Jenis V. Francis, Avijit Mani Tripathi,GT. K. Nayak, Sahil Tagotra, A. P. Mayee, M/s VKC Law Offices,Mukesh K. Giri, Kunal Chatterji, Ms. Maitrayee Banerjee, AbhimanyuTewari, Ms. Eliza Bar, Apoorv Kurup, Ms. Nidhi Mittal, Ms. Binu Tamta,Dhruv Tamta, Ms. Pratibha Jain, Divyakant Lahoti, Parikshit Ahuja,Ms. Praveena Bisht, Ms. Madhur Jhavar, Ms. Vindhya Mehra, KartikHLahoti, Rahul Maheshwari, Ms. Shivangi Malhotra, Tapesh Kumar Singh, Aditya Pratap Singh, Mrs. L. Bhaswati Singh, Aditya Narayan Das,Ms. Uttara Babbar, Manan Bansal, Advs. for the appearing parties.
The following Order of the Court was passed :
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O R D E R
1. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in March, 2020,this Court took Suo Motu cognizance of the difficulties that might befaced by the litigants in filing petitions/ applications/ suits/ appeals/ allother proceedings within the period of limitation prescribed under thegeneral law of limitation or under any special laws (both Central and/orState). On 23.03.2020, this Court directed extension of the period oflimitation in all proceedings before the Courts/Tribunals including thisCourt w.e.f. 15.03.2020 till further orders.
2. Considering the reduction in prevalence of COVID-19 virusand normalcy being restored, the following order was passed in the SuoMotu proceedings on 08.03.2021:
“1. In computing the period of limitation for any suit, appeal,application or proceeding, the period from 15.03.2020 till14.03.2021 shall stand excluded. Consequently, the balanceperiod of limitation remaining as on 15.03.2020, if any, shallbecome available with effect from 15.03.2021.
2. In cases where the limitation would have expired duringthe period between 15.03.2020 till 14.03.2021,notwithstanding the actual balance period of limitationremaining, all persons shall have a limitation period of 90days from 15.03.2021. In the event the actual balance periodof limitation remaining, with effect from 15.03.2021, is greaterthan 90 days, that longer period shall apply.
3. The period from 15.03.2020 till 14.03.2021 shall also standexcluded in computing the periods prescribed under Sections23 (4) and 29A of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996,Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 and provisos(b) and (c) of Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act,1881 and any other laws, which prescribe period(s) oflimitation for instituting proceedings, outer limits (within whichthe court or tribunal can condone delay) and termination ofproceedings.
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4. The Government of India shall amend the guidelines forcontainment zones, to state.
“Regulated movement will be allowed for medicalemergencies, provision of essential goods and services, andother necessary functions, such as, time bound applications,including for legal purposes, and educational and job-relatedrequirements.”
3. Thereafter, there was a second surge in COVID-19 cases whichhad a devastating and debilitating effect. The Supreme Court Advocateson Record Association (SCAORA) intervened in the Suo Motuproceedings by filing Miscellaneous Application No.665 of 2021 seekingrestoration of the order dated 23.03.2020. Acceding to the request madeby SCAORA, this Court passed the following order on 27.04.2021:
“We also take judicial notice of the fact that the steeprise in COVID-19 Virus cases is not limited to Delhi alone butit has engulfed the entire nation. The extraordinary situationcaused by the sudden and second outburst of COVID-19 Virus,thus, requires extraordinary measures to minimize the hardshipof litigant–public in all the states. We, therefore, restore theorder dated 23rd March, 2020 and in continuation of theorder dated 8th March, 2021 direct that the period(s) oflimitation, as prescribed under any general or special lawsin respect of all judicial or quasi-judicial proceedings,whether condonable or not, shall stand extended till furtherorders.
It is further clarified that the period from 14th March,2021 till further orders shall also stand excluded in computingthe periods prescribed under Sections 23 (4) and 29A of theArbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, Section 12A of theCommercial Courts Act, 2015 and provisos (b) and (c) ofSection 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 and anyother laws, which prescribe period(s) of limitation forinstituting proceedings, outer limits (within which the courtor tribunal can condone delay) and termination ofproceedings.
We have passed this order in exercise of our powersunder Article 142 read with Article 141 of the Constitution of India. Hence it shall be a binding order within the meaningof Article 141 on all Courts/Tribunals and Authorities.”
4. In spite of all the uncertainties about another wave of the deadlyCOVID-19 virus, it is imminent that the order dated 08.03.2021 is restoredas the situation is near normal.
5. We have heard learned Attorney General for India, Mr. VikasSingh, learned Senior Counsel for the Election Commission of India,Mr. Shivaji M. Jadhav, learned counsel for the SCAORA and otherlearned Advocates. There is consensus that there is no requirement forcontinuance of the initial order passed by this Court on 23.03.2020 andrelaxation of the period of limitation need not be continued any further.The contention of Mr. Vikas Singh is that the order dated 08.03.2021can be restored, subject to a modification. He submitted that paragraphNo.2 of the order dated 08.03.2021 provides that the limitation period of90 days will start from 15.03.2021 notwithstanding the actual balance ofperiod of limitation in cases where limitation has expired between15.03.2020 and 14.03.2021. According to him, the period of limitationprior to 15.03.2020 has to be taken into account and only the balanceperiod of limitation should be made available for the purpose of filingcases.
6. The order dated 23.03.2020 was passed in view of theextraordinary health crisis. On 08.03.2021, the order dated 23.03.2020was brought to an end, permitting the relaxation of period of limitationbetween 15.03.2020 and 14.03.2021. While doing so, it was made clearthat the period of limitation would start from 15.03.2021. As the saidorder dated 08.03.2021 was only a one-time measure, in view of thepandemic, we are not inclined to modify the conditions contained in theorder dated 08.03.2021.
7. The learned Attorney General for India stated that paragraphNo.4 of the order dated 08.03.2021 should be continued as there arecertain containment zones in some States even today.
8. Therefore, we dispose of the M.A. No.665 of 2021 with thefollowing directions: -
I.In computing the period of limitation for any suit, appeal,application or proceeding, the period from 15.03.2020 till02.10.2021 shall stand excluded. Consequently, the balance A
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Aperiod of limitation remaining as on 15.03.2020, if any, shallbecome available with effect from 03.10.2021.
II.In cases where the limitation would have expired duringthe period between 15.03.2020 till 02.10.2021,notwithstanding the actual balance period of limitationBremaining, all persons shall have a limitation period of 90days from 03.10.2021. In the event the actual balance periodof limitation remaining, with effect from 03.10.2021, isgreater than 90 days, that longer period shall apply.
III.The period from 15.03.2020 till 02.10.2021 shall also standCexcluded in computing the periods prescribed under Sections23 (4) and 29A of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996,Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 andprovisos (b) and (c) of Section 138 of the NegotiableInstruments Act, 1881 and any other laws, which prescribeperiod(s) of limitation for instituting proceedings, outer limitsD(within which the court or tribunal can condone delay) andtermination of proceedings.
IV.The Government of India shall amend the guidelines forcontainment zones, to state.
E“Regulated movement will be allowed for medical emergencies,provision of essential goods and services, and other necessaryfunctions, such as, time bound applications, including for legalpurposes, and educational and job-related requirements.”
FDevika GujralMiscellaneous Application disposed of.
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