COVID-19 limitation exclusion applied to commercial court pleadings, making refusal to accept the written statement unsustainable.

The Supreme Court's COVID-19 limitation exclusion from 15.03.2020 to 28.02.2022 applied to proceedings under the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, treating it as a special law within the scope of that direction. Because the time for filing the written statement expired on 09.05.2020, within the excluded period, that time had to be ignored while computing limitation. The refusal to condone delay and to take the written statement on record was therefore unsustainable, and the already filed written statement was directed to be taken on record and considered in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether the period from 15.03.2020 to 28.02.2022 was required to be excluded while computing limitation for filing the written statement under the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, and whether the refusal to condone delay and take the written statement on record was sustainable.

Analysis: The Court relied on its earlier order excluding the period from 15.03.2020 to 28.02.2022 for the purposes of limitation in all judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings under general and special laws. It treated the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 as a special law within the scope of that exclusion. Since the period for filing the written statement expired on 09.05.2020, which fell within the excluded period, the High Court ought to have excluded that time while considering limitation. The refusal to condone delay and to receive the written statement on record was therefore unsustainable.

Conclusion: The refusal to condone delay was set aside, and the written statement already filed was directed to be taken on record and considered in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: When limitation expires during the Supreme Court-ordered exclusion period for COVID-19, that period must be excluded for proceedings governed by special laws, including the Commercial Courts Act, 2015.

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