Time Limits after the Claim Is Filed: Appeals, Awards and Execution

A creditor who has a good claim can still lose it, or the fruit of a judgment, by missing a period of limitation. The risk is greatest after the first decision, when attention has moved to the next stage and the date for the appeal or the application for execution is not noticed. This note gathers the periods most often relevant to a recovery matter after the claim has been filed. The periods are fixed by statute and are amended from time to time, so each should be confirmed against the current text before it is relied on. It is general information, not advice on a particular matter.

Execution of a decree

Article 136 of the Limitation Act, 1963 allows twelve years from the date the decree or order becomes enforceable for its execution. Where the decree directs payment at a future date or by instalments, the period runs from the date fixed for each payment. A fresh application may be made, within the period, after an earlier one has been disposed of, but a decree-holder should not rely on this to leave long intervals between applications.

Appeals from decrees and orders

• First appeal to a High Court against a decree under Section 96 of the Code of Civil Procedure: ninety days under Article 116 of the Limitation Act.
• First appeal to a court other than the High Court: thirty days.
• Commercial courts. An appeal from a decree or order of a commercial court lies under Section 13 of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 within sixty days.
• Debts Recovery Appellate Tribunal. Thirty days under Section 20 of the Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy Act, 1993, with a pre-deposit of fifty per cent of the amount due, which the tribunal may reduce to not less than twenty-five per cent for reasons recorded.
• National Company Law Appellate Tribunal. Thirty days under Section 61 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, extendable by up to fifteen days.
• Supreme Court from the Appellate Tribunal. Forty-five days under Section 62 of the Code, extendable by up to forty-five days.

Arbitral awards

An application to set aside an award under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 must be made within three months of receipt of the award, and the court may entertain it within a further period of thirty days, but not thereafter. A creditor holding an award should note that the filing of the application does not stay enforcement unless the court so orders.

Condonation of delay

Section 5 of the Limitation Act allows a court to admit an appeal or an application after the period if the appellant shows sufficient cause for the delay. It does not apply to suits. Courts decide it on the explanation for each day of delay, and a short, specific and truthful explanation is more persuasive than a long one. Where a statute fixes an outer limit that the court cannot extend, as some do, Section 5 does not help.

Exclusion of time

• The day on which the decree is pronounced is excluded, and so is the time spent obtaining a certified copy of the decree or order appealed against (Section 12).
• The time spent in prosecuting another proceeding in good faith in a court without jurisdiction may be excluded under Section 14, where the proceeding related to the same matter.
• The Supreme Court excluded the period from 15 March 2020 to 28 February 2022 for limitation in proceedings generally, by its order in In Re: Cognizance for Extension of Limitation. Periods that fell within it should be recomputed with that order in mind.

A practical routine

1. On the day of any judgment, record the last date for each possible appeal and application, and the date a certified copy was applied for.
2. Apply for the certified copy at once. The time taken to obtain it is excluded, but only if it is applied for promptly.
3. Keep a diary entry a fortnight before each date.
4. Where two periods may apply, take the shorter.

The periods are short and the consequences of missing them are permanent. A date kept in the diary is the cheapest protection a creditor has.