ICABA writes to Supreme Court seeking expansion of its limitation order to timelines prescribed under Arbitration Act, IBC, NI Act

The Indian Commercial and Arbitration Bar Association (ICABA) has addressed a letter to the Supreme Court seeking expansion of its order passed in the wake of the Coronavirus lockdown, by which it had extended the limitation period for cases pending in all courts and tribunals..Breaking: Period of Limitation for filing in all Courts/Tribunals stands extended with effect from March 15 [Read Order].According to ICABA, while the order dated March 23 has extended the period of limitation prescribed under both general and special law, it does not encompass and deal with situations where certain proceedings abate/terminate on account of non-adherence to timelines prescribed by certain statutes or those that provide for adverse consequences to follow on the expiry of time periods prescribed therein..Through the letter signed by Advocate Ankur Mahindro, ICABA is seeking extension of mandatory timelines prescribed under Section 29A of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, Section 12(3) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, Section 131 of the Trademarks Act, 1999 and Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. .As per Section 29A of the Arbitration Act, an Arbitral Tribunal is required to pass the final award within a period of 12 months from the date it enters upon the reference. Additionally, the said period may be extended by 6 months, with the consent of the parties. If such period is not extended by the Court upon application, the mandate of the Tribunal would terminate..Section 12(3) of the IBC mandates that the Insolvency Resolution Process be completed within a period of 330 from the Insolvency commencement date. If the said process is not completed within 330 days, Section 33 of the Act unequivocally mandates that the Adjudicating Authority shall pass an order of liquidation of the Corporate Debtor..Section of the Trademarks Act provides that an application for extension of time shall be made before the Registrar for extending the time for doing any act, whether the time so specified has expired or not, and subject to sufficient cause being shown, the said application may be allowed..Under Section 138 of the NI Act, when any cheque is returned by the drawer’s bank, the drawee shall send a demand notice for the payment of said amount in writing within 30 days of receipt of information of the said return..The letter states that if the Supreme Court's order is not extended to these provisions, the following consequences may arise:"(a) Courts and other authorities are not functioning except to hear urgent matters and hence cannot be approached for seeking such extensions/permissions;(b) As and when Courts become fully functional, they will be inundated with such applications, which is clearly not the ideal situation. As and when these concerned parties approach the Court/Authority/Tribunal, it will have a snowballing effect, adding to the already existing burden and backlog due to the lockdown.".Additionally, the association has also sought service of notice, correspondence etc. via electronic means during the pendency of the Coronavirus lockdown..With COVID-19 creating a force majeure-like situation, there is a likelihood that upon reopening of the courts, a spate of litigation may be filed seeking extension orders, in the fear of expiry of prescribed timelines..[Read the Letter]