The Delhi High Court has refused to condone delay in a petition filed by the Union of India challenging an arbitral award, holding that it cannot take shelter under Section 14 of the Limitation Act by claiming it was pursuing remedies before a wrong forum.
The Court came down on the Union, noting that it had pursued proceedings before a court lacking jurisdiction for over two years and could not now plead bona fide mistake. The Court held that the Union of India, unlike an ordinary litigant, is expected to act with greater diligence and cannot rely on unreasonable explanations to overcome statutory limitation. Justice Subramonium Prasad has observed:
“This Court is of the considered opinion that the Petitioner cannot take umbrage of Section 14 of the Limitation Act, 1963, to state that it was bona fide and diligently pursuing its remedy before a Court having no jurisdiction. It does not lie in the mouth of the Petitioner, who is not an ordinary litigant but the Union of India, to take shelter of such an explanation of having unknowingly pursued a remedy before the court having no jurisdiction for over two years.”
The case arises from a construction contract dispute where an arbitral award dated September 20, 2019 granted certain claims to PNSC Infrastructure Ltd. The Union of India challenged the award under Section 34 of the Arbitration Act; however, the Court noted that such challenges must be filed within three months, extendable by only 30 days, and not beyond that strict statutory limit.
The Court found that the limitation expired in December 2019, but the Union pursued proceedings before a wrong forum until April 2022 and approached the High Court thereafter. Refusing to condone the delay of over two years, the Court held that benefit of Section 14 of the Limitation Act cannot be claimed in the absence of a bona fide explanation.
Appearances
Petitioner- Ms. Monika Arora, CGSC along with Mr. Subhrodeep Saha and Mr. Prabhat Kumar, Advocates
Respondent- Dr. Amit George, Mr. Rajeev Kumar and Mr. Bhrigu A. Pamidighantam, Advocates.
