Supreme Court of India
IN RE: COGNIZANCE FOR EXTENSION OF LIMITATION versus . on 8 March 2021
2021 INSC 168[2021] 2 S.C.R. 640
640
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2021] 2 S.C.R.
AIN RE: COGNIZANCE FOR EXTENSION OF LIMITATION
(Suo Motu Writ Petition (Civil) No. 03 of 2020)
MARCH 08, 2021
[S. A. BOBDE, CJI, L. NAGESWARA RAO ANDBS. RAVINDRA BHAT, JJ.]
Limitation – Extension of – COVID-19 pandemic – Sou motucognizance was taken of the situation arising from difficulties facedby the litigants across the country during COVID-19 pandemic infiling petitions/applications/suits/appeals/other proceedings withinCthe prescribed period of limitation under general law of limitationor under special laws (both Central or State) – By an order dated23.03.2020, the period of limitation was extended with effect from15.03.2020 and order dated 23.03.2020 was extended from time totime – Considering improvement in the situation and changingDscenario relating to pandemic, order dated 23.03.2020 has servedits purpose and extension of limitation should come to an end –Regarding the future course of action, the following directions areissued: 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 balance periodEof limitation remaining as on 15.03.2020, if any, shall becomeavailable with effect from 15.03.2021; 2) In cases where thelimitation would have expired during the period between 15.03.2020till 14.03.2021, notwithstanding the actual balance period oflimitation remaining, all persons shall have a limitation period ofF90 days from 15.03.2021 – In the event the actual balance periodof limitation remaining, with effect from 15.03.2021, is greater than90 days, that longer period shall apply; 3) The period from15.03.2020 till 14.03.2021 shall also stand excluded in computingthe periods prescribed u/ss. 23 (4) and 29A of the Arbitration andConciliation Act, 1996, s.12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015Gand provisos (b) and (c) of s.138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act,1881 and any other laws, which prescribe period(s) of limitationfor instituting proceedings, outer limits (within which the court ortribunal can condone delay) and termination of proceedings; 4)The Government of India shall amend the guidelines for containmentH
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zones, to state – “Regulated movement will be allowed for medicalemergencies, provision of essential goods and services, and othernecessary functions, such as, time bound applications, includingfor legal purposes, and educational and job-related requirements”– Accordingly, the Suo motu writ petition is disposed of.
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION: Suo Moto Writ Petition(Civil) No. 03 of 2020
(Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India)
By Courts Motion.
K. K. Venugopal, AG, Tushar Mehta, SG, Dushyant Dave, P.H.Parekh, K.V. Vishwanathan, Sidharth Luthra, Soumya Chakraborty, Sr.Advs, Kanu Agrawal, Ankur Talwar, B.V. Balram Das, Zoheb Hossain,M. K. Maroria, Sameer Parekh, Kshatrashal Raj, Ms.Tanya Chaudhry,Ms. Pratyusha Priyadarshini, Ms. Nitika Pandey, M/s Parekh & Co.,Varun K. Chopra, Arshdeep Singh Khurana, Akshat Gupta, GurtejpalSingh, Rajshree Sharma, M/s Vkc Law Offices, Siddhesh Kotwal,Divyansh Tiwari, Ms. Ana Upadhyay, Ms. Manya Hasija, NirnimeshDube, Yashvardhan, Apoorv Shukla, Ms. Smita Kant, Ms. Ishita Farsaiya,Ms.Prabhleen Kaur, Ms. Aruna Mathur, Ms. Anuradha Arputham,Avneesh Arputham, M/s Arputham Aruna and Co., Sanjai Kumar Pathak,Arvind Kumar Tripathi, Ms. Shashi Pathak, Divyakant Lahoti, ParikshitAhuja, Ms. Praveena Bisht, Ms. Vindhya Mehra, Ms. Madhur Jhavar,Kartik Lahoti, Rahul Maheshwari, Jaigopal Saboo, Mukul Kumar,Mahfooz A. Nazki, Polanki Gowtham, Shaik Mohammad Haneef,T.Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy, Amitabh Sinha, Shrey Sharma, Ms. AnannyaGhosh, Aniruddha P. Mayee, Vivek Narayan Sharma, Pranaya Goyal,Nikhil Ranjan, Utkarsh Kulvi, Pranav Saigal, Ms. Radhika Gautam,Sarvam Ritam Khare, Ms. Vrinda Kapoor, Ms. Meena Sehravat, ArvindKumar Sharma, A. Lakshminarayanan, Ranjan Mukherjee, AproovKurup, Ms. Nidhi Mittal, B. Krishna Prasad, Anilendra Pandey, Ms.Suchita Dixit, Sandeep, Madhusudan, Ms. Eliza Bar, Pai Amit, AbhimanyuTewari, Ms. Riddhi Sancheti, Ramesh Babu M.R., Arjun Garg, Ms.Shrutika Garg, Avijit Mani Tripathi, T.K. Nayak, Ms. Garima Prashad,Ms. Archana Sahadeva, Ms. Binu Tamta, Dhruv Tamta, KrishnanandPandeya, V.N. Raghupathy, S. Thananjayan, Mayank Kshirsagar, Advs.for the appearing parties.
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642SUPREME COURT REPORTS
AThe Order of the Court was passed:
ORDER
1. Due to the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, this Court took suomotu cognizance of the situation arising from difficulties that might befaced by the litigants across the country in filing petitions/applications/Bsuits/appeals/all other proceedings within the period of limitationprescribed under the general law of limitation or under any special laws(both Central or State). By an order dated 27.03.2020 this Court extendedthe period of limitation prescribed under the general law or special lawswhether compoundable or not with effect from 15.03.2020 till furtherCorders. The order dated 15.03.2020 was extended from time to time.Though, we have not seen the end of the pandemic, there is considerableimprovement. The lockdown has been lifted and the country is returningto normalcy. Almost all the Courts and Tribunals are functioning eitherphysically or by virtual mode. We are of the opinion that the order dated15.03.2020 has served its purpose and in view of the changing scenarioDrelating to the pandemic, the extension of limitation should come to anend.
2. We have considered the suggestions of the learned AttorneyGeneral for India regarding the future course of action. We deem itappropriate to issue the following directions: -E
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.F
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2. In cases where the limitation would have expired during theperiod between 15.03.2020 till 14.03.2021, notwithstandingthe actual balance period of limitation remaining, all personsshall have a limitation period of 90 days from 15.03.2021. Inthe event the actual balance period of limitation remaining,Gwith effect from 15.03.2021, is greater than 90 days, thatlonger 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, H
Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 and provisos(b) and (c) of Section 138 of the Negotiable InstrumentsAct, 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.
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. The Suo Motu Writ Petition is disposed of accordingly.
Ankit Gyan
Writ Petition disposed of.
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