Sabka Vishwas Scheme payment deadline controls belated remittance claims, while lockdown relief remained open in one petition.

Under the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019, the payment obligation arose on issuance of Form 3 and the quantified amount had to be remitted within 30 days. The Madras HC held that where Form 3 was issued in December 2019 and February 2020, the remittance period had already expired before the COVID-19 lockdown could assist the petitioner, so belated payment could not be accepted and those writ petitions were dismissed. In the remaining petition, where time was still running until the end of March 2020, the effect of the lockdown was left open for further hearing.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner was entitled to a direction to accept payments under the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019 notwithstanding expiry of the prescribed 30-day period and the asserted impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Analysis: The payment obligation under the Scheme arose on issuance of Form 3, and the quantified amount was required to be remitted within 30 days. In the two writ petitions where Form 3 had been issued in December 2019 and February 2020 and only part payment had been made, the delay had already run out before the pandemic-related disruption could assist the petitioner in the former set of cases, and the lapse was not otherwise excused. For the petition where time remained until the end of March 2020, the lockdown imposed on 25.03.2020 was left open for further consideration.

Conclusion: The request for acceptance of belated payment was rejected in the two writ petitions where the remittance period had expired long before the lockdown, and those petitions were dismissed; the remaining petition was kept for further hearing.

Final Conclusion: Relief under the Scheme was denied for the petitions in which the statutory payment period had already expired, while one connected matter remained pending for further adjudication.

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