The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to revive the suo motu orders extending the limitation period for filing cases in Courts and Tribunals, in view of the rising cases of Covid-19 in the country.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana said that it will later pass a detailed order in this regard.
The bench, also comprising Justices L. Nageswara Rao and Surya Kant said, “We are accepting the prayer made by the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) to restore the orders extending limitation”.
The application, filed through Advocate Abhinav Ramakrishna last week, stated that there has been a sudden and drastic change in the situation with regard to the pandemic, as a new variant more particularly Omicron has seen a drastic surge, and considering the alarming increase in mortality rate due to Coronavirus and also the rise in new cases, it becomes necessary to restore the relaxation with regard to the period of limitation.
The bench noted that a large number of the staff of the Supreme Court have also been affected by the new variant of Covid-19 and it becomes all the more necessary to extend the period of limitation.
Advocate Shivaji Jadhav, President SCAORA, submitted that Covid cases have been increasing across the country over the past few days and urged the court to restore the limitation extension orders.
Attorney General K.K. Venugopal supported the SCAORA plea.
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The SCAORA had moved the top court, seeking restoration of a March 2020 order through which the court had directed the suspension of the limitation period in the backdrop of difficulties faced by the litigants amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
In March 2020, the Supreme Court had taken suo moto cognizance of the Covid-19 situation and resultant difficulties that may be faced by litigants across the country in filing their pleadings within the prescribed period of limitation.
Thereafter, several orders were passed, further extending the limitation period.
The Supreme Court had on March 8, 2021, ended the extension of limitation with effect from March 14, 2021, observing that the Covid-19 situation has improved. However, the orders were revived in the wake of the second wave of Covid-19 in April 2021. The same was withdrawn by order dated September 23 with effect from October 2, 2021.