Jai Durga Enterprises Vs UOI & Ors. (Delhi High Court)
Summary: Delhi High Court allowed Jai Durga Enterprises’ writ petition and set aside the termination of its railway contract, consequential debarment and forfeiture of earnest money deposit after holding that the performance guarantee had been furnished within the stipulated 60-day period. The Letter of Acceptance was issued and received by email on 03.01.2020, while the performance guarantee was submitted on 03.03.2020.
The decisive question was whether 03.01.2020 should be counted as day “one” or excluded as day “zero”. Applying Section 9 of the General Clauses Act, 1897, the Court held that where a period is expressed to run “from” a specified date, the first day must be excluded. The Court relied upon the Supreme Court decisions in Tarun Prasad Chatterjee v. Dinanath Sharma and M/s Econ Antri Ltd. v. Rom Industries Ltd. & Anr., which recognise the settled rule that in computing a prescribed period the first day is excluded and the last day included.
The Court also referred to Frank Anthony Public School v. Amar Kaur, where it had been held that fractions of a day are disregarded and computation begins after the day on which the triggering event occurs. Accordingly, 03.01.2020 was day “zero”, computation commenced from 04.01.2020 and the performance guarantee submitted on 03.03.2020 was furnished on the 60th day, not the 61st day. The termination letter dated 18.08.2020 was therefore erroneous and unsustainable, and the consequential debarment and forfeiture of earnest money deposit were also set aside.
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