COVID Limitation Extensions Apply Only If Deadline Falls Within Pandemic Window: J&K High Court

The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has clarified that the Supreme Court's extraordinary extension of limitation periods due to the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be used to stretch timelines for cases where the limitation expired well after the pandemic window closed. This ruling reinforces that litigants cannot claim a blanket exclusion of nearly two years if their cause of action and subsequent filing deadlines remained largely unaffected by the period of judicial shutdown.

A division bench of Justice Sindhu Sharma and Justice Sanjay Dhar heard the appeal against a Commercial Court order that had dismissed a recovery suit for being barred by limitation. The appellant sought to overturn the dismissal by claiming that the period from March 2020 to February 2022 should be entirely excluded from the three-year limitation period prescribed under the Limitation Act.

Interpretation of COVID-19 Limitation Relief

The Court examined the directions issued by the Apex Court in Suo Motu Writ Petition (Civil) No. 3 of 2020 (In Re: Cognizance for Extension of Limitation). It noted that while the Supreme Court exercised powers under Constitution and Constitution to protect litigants, the relief was structured and not a total reset of the limitation clock for every pending dispute.

The Court, in its reasoning, observed: "The purport of the order of the Supreme Court is not that, even in a case where the period of limitation expires beyond 90 days after 28.02.2022, the entire period from 15.03.2020 till 28.02.2022 is to be excluded."

Application to Commercial Recovery Suits

In the present case, the last delivery of goods occurred on March 1, 2020. Under Article 14 of the Limitation Act, the limitation period was to expire on February 28, 2023. Since this date fell nearly a year after the pandemic extension period ended (February 28, 2022), the appellant was not entitled to any further exclusion.

The Court has following directions:

"The appeal lacks merit and is, accordingly, dismissed."

Background

The appellant, M/s Des Raj Om Parkash, had filed a suit for recovery of Rs. 3,73,477/- against M/s 17 Miles Hotel Restaurant. The trial court dismissed the suit ex parte as barred by limitation, noting that the suit was filed on June 3, 2023, while the limitation had expired on February 28, 2023. The appellant argued that the transactions involved a running account and that they were entitled to the benefit of the Supreme Court's Suo Motu orders regarding limitation. However, the High Court found that since the limitation expired well beyond 90 days from March 1, 2022, the appellant could not claim the exclusion of the pandemic period to justify a filing in June 2023.

Case Details:
Case No.: RFA No. 21/2026
Case Title: M/s Des Raj Om Parkash th. Sanjeev Gupta vs. M/s 17 Miles Hotel Restaurant and others
Appearances:
For the Petitioner(s): Ms. Meenakshi Slathia Kour, Advocate & Mr. Shubham Singh, Advocate
For the Respondent(s): Mr. R. K. Jain, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Pramvir Singh, Advocate

Source: 2026 CaseBase(JK) 1193