Three-Month Waiting Period Under Section 82 CPC Must Be Excluded While Computing Limitation for Executing Decree Against Government: Punjab & Haryana High Court
Case Name: Surinder Singh v. Punjab State and Others
Date of Judgment: 20 July 2026
Citation: CR-8185-2025
Bench: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Jagmohan Bansal
Held: The Punjab and Haryana High Court held that the mandatory three-month waiting period prescribed under Section 82 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, must be excluded while computing the twelve-year limitation period for filing an execution petition against the Government. The Court observed that although execution proceedings cannot be initiated until the expiry of three months from the date of the decree or award, this statutory embargo correspondingly postpones the commencement of the limitation period. The Court further held that the benefit of exclusion of limitation granted by the Supreme Court during the COVID-19 pandemic would also apply while computing limitation for execution proceedings. Consequently, an execution petition filed within the recalculated limitation period could not be dismissed as time-barred.
Summary: The petitioner challenged an order of the Additional District Judge, Bathinda, dismissing an execution petition arising out of enhanced compensation awarded under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 on the ground of limitation. The petitioner’s land had been acquired for construction of a Government College, and compensation initially awarded by the Land Acquisition Collector was successively enhanced by the Reference Court and later by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a Regular First Appeal.
After the High Court enhanced the compensation on 13 March 2008, the petitioner instituted execution proceedings in 2021. The Executing Court dismissed the petition as barred by limitation. Before the High Court, the petitioner argued that Section 82 CPC prohibits execution against the Government for three months from the date of the decree or award, and therefore the limitation period prescribed under Article 136 of the Limitation Act, 1963 begins only after expiry of the said three-month period. The petitioner further relied upon the Supreme Court’s orders extending limitation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The respondents contended that Section 82 CPC merely postpones the initiation of execution proceedings and does not enlarge the statutory limitation period. They argued that the execution petition remained barred by limitation despite the statutory waiting period.
The High Court examined Section 82 CPC, its legislative scheme and judicial precedents, including Surjeet Singh v. Union of India and the decision of the Jammu & Kashmir High Court in State v. Col. Abdul Rehman. The Court observed that Section 82(3) expressly extends the protection under Section 82 to awards, including awards under the Land Acquisition Act. It held that where execution against the Government is legally prohibited for three months, such period necessarily stands excluded while computing the limitation period. Applying this principle along with the exclusion of limitation directed by the Supreme Court during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Court concluded that the execution petition filed on 21 December 2021 was well within the prescribed limitation period.
Decision: Allowing the civil revision petition, the Punjab and Haryana High Court set aside the order of the Executing Court dismissing the execution petition as time-barred. The Court held that the petitioner was entitled to exclusion of the statutory three-month period under Section 82 CPC as well as the benefit of the Supreme Court’s COVID-19 limitation orders while computing limitation for filing execution proceedings against the Government.