Section 14 limitation exclusion applies to a defective Section 34 petition when mandatory procedural compliance is missing.

Section 14 of the Limitation Act can apply to proceedings under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 where an earlier filing failed because a mandatory procedural defect prevented the court from entertaining it. Here, non-compliance with Section 34(5), requiring prior notice and a supporting affidavit, was treated as a defect of a like nature for exclusion of time. The court also treated the delay in re-filing after removal of objections as not fatal and, in any event, condonable on the facts. The time spent prosecuting the earlier defective petition was therefore excluded, the delay was condoned, and the Section 34 petition was registered.

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Issues: Whether the delay in filing the Section 34 petition and in re-filing it after curing the defect could be condoned by excluding the time spent in pursuing the earlier defective petition under Section 14 of the Limitation Act, despite non-compliance with Section 34(5) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.

Analysis: Section 14 of the Limitation Act is not confined only to cases of strict lack of jurisdiction, but also extends to other causes of a like nature where the Court is unable to entertain the proceeding. The requirement under Section 34(5) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, of issuing prior notice and filing the supporting affidavit is mandatory, and a petition filed without such compliance could not be entertained. That defect was treated as a cause of like nature for the purpose of Section 14. The delay in re-filing after removal of objections was also treated as not fatal and, in any event, liable to be condoned on the facts.

Conclusion: The delay was condoned after excluding the time spent in prosecuting the earlier defective petition, and the Section 34 petition was allowed to be registered.

Ratio Decidendi: Section 14 of the Limitation Act, 1963 applies to proceedings under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 where the earlier proceeding failed because of a mandatory procedural defect that rendered the Court unable to entertain it, and such defect may constitute a cause of like nature for exclusion of time.

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