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The Supreme Court of India, on 10 January 2022 has once again restored it earlier orders suspending all limitation. The new order will be in operation till 28 February 2022. Orders passed by the Supreme Court of India, extending all limitations through exercise of its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution have been a consistent feature of this pandemic. The orders have been passed by the Supreme Court to ease any hardships and protect the rights of litigants during the pandemic. The first order of this nature was passed by the Supreme Court of India, in Suo Motu Writ Petition No. (C) NO. 3 OF 2020 on 23 March 2020. The order was therefore continued until withdrawn on 08 March 2021. The 23 March 2020 order had thereafter to be restored due to the second wave of the covid pandemic and orders were passed to that effect by the Supreme Court on 27 April 2021. The order extending arbitration was once again withdrawn on 23 September 2021 effective from 03 October 2021 once the second wave abated.

On 10 January 2022, the Supreme Court of India in Suo Motu Writ Petition No. (C) NO. 3 OF 2020 again passed an order restoring its earlier order of 23 March 2020. In material terms the court has directed the following:

1. The period from 15.03.2020 till 28.02.2022 shall stand excluded for the purposes of limitation as may be prescribed under any general or special laws in respect of all judicial or quasi-judicial proceedings. The balance period of limitation remaining as on 03.10.2021, if any, shall become available with effect from 01.03.2022.
2. In Cases the limitation would have expired during the period between 15.03.2020 till 28.02.2022, irrespective of the actual balance period of limitation remaining, all persons shall have a limitation period of 90 days from 01.03.2022.
3. In the event the actual balance period of limitation remaining with effect from 01.03.2022 is greater than 90 days, greater amount of time will be made available to the litigant.
4. The period from 15.03.2020 till 28.02.2022 shall also stand excluded in computing the periods prescribed under Sections 23 (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 of limitation for instituting proceedings. The Supreme Court in its order has clarified that its order will also apply to outer limits (within which the court or tribunal can condone delay).

The aforementioned orders will operate till 28 February 2022 but may be extended if the Covid 19 situation in the country does not improve.