A body of lawyers have asked the Supreme Court to reinstate the relaxation of the statute of limitations for filing court cases given the alarming increase in COVID-19 cases across the country.

In its plea, the Supreme Court Advocates On Record Association (SCAORA) requested the reinstatement of the decisions of March 23, 2020 and April 27, 2021 by which the orders extending the limitation period had been suspended.

” There has been a sudden and drastic change in the situation with regard to the pandemic, as a new variant most notably Omicron has seen a drastic increase … considering the alarming rate at which there is an increase in the death rate due to to Covid and also the increase in new cases, it becomes necessary to restore the relaxation with regard to the limitation period, ” the plea said.

The Supreme Court said in September that the easing of the statute of limitations for filing court cases following the COVID-19 pandemic would end on October 2.

He had ordered that the period from March 15 of last year to October 2, 2021 be excluded from the calculation of the limitation period.

On March 23, 2020, the Supreme Court invoked its plenary power under article 142 of the Constitution to indefinitely extend the limitation period for appeals against the courts or tribunals due to the pandemic with effect from March 15, 2020.

On March 8, 2021, the highest court noted that the country was in the process of “returning to normal” and decided to end the extension of the limitation period which had been granted in March 2020 to litigants due to the pandemic.

However, on April 27, 2021, the court took note of the start of the second wave of COVID-19 and again relaxed the legal deadline for filing petitions, including election petitions, under the Representation of the People. Act, 1951.

On March 8, 2021, the order of March 23, 2020 ended, allowing the relaxation of the limitation period between March 15, 2020 and March 14, 2021. In doing so, it was clarified that the limitation period would begin to run. of March 15, 2021, he said.

The bench said the order of March 8 of this year was only a one-off measure, given the pandemic it is not inclined to change the conditions contained in that order.

He said that the period from March 15 of last year to October 2, 2021 would also be excluded from the calculation of the time limits prescribed by the Arbitration and Conciliation Law, the Law on Commercial Courts, the Law on negotiable instruments and any other law prescribing a limitation period.

The government of India must change the guidelines for containment zones, at the state. Regulated movements will be allowed for medical emergencies, the provision of essential goods and services, and other necessary functions, such as time-limited requests, including for legal purposes, and educational and job-related requirements. said the judiciary in its order. .

During the hearing of the case on September 23, 2021, the judiciary had taken note of the improvement in the pandemic situation and noted that it will recall its order of April 27 by which it had extended the operation of a previous instruction on the statute of limitations.

He had observed that the suo motu extension of the limitation period would be withdrawn and that after that, the usual 90-day limitation period for bringing cases to court would come into effect again.

(This story was not edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)