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Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. v. Pawan Kumar Gupta

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 1085 of 2008)Decided 16 Sept 2015
Civil Appeal No. 1085 of 2008
Justice V. Gopala Gowda · Justice Amitava Roy

Background

BSNL sued a telephone subscriber, Pawan Kumar Gupta, to recover unpaid telephone dues for service used between 1992 and 1998, but the suit was filed many years later and was dismissed by the trial court and High Court as time-barred. BSNL argued it should get the 30-year limitation period under Article 112 of the Limitation Act (available to "the Central Government") because it took over the Department of Telecommunications' assets, liabilities and debts by a 2000 Office Memorandum. Two other BSNL appeals, one on the same limitation question and one against a Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) order in a billing dispute with Tata Communications, were heard and decided together.

Decision Breakdown

The Court held that BSNL, though wholly government-owned, is a separate corporate entity under the Companies Act and is not the same as "the Central Government" for the purposes of Article 112 of the Limitation Act; that special 30-year limitation period is reserved for suits filed by or on behalf of the Government itself, not its instrumentalities or companies, even if they inherited the Government's assets and debts. BSNL's claim against the subscriber was therefore governed by the ordinary limitation period and was correctly held time-barred, so both limitation appeals (1085/2008 and 2409/2009) were dismissed. The connected statutory appeal against the TDSAT order (3420/2012, against Tata Communications) was also dismissed, as the Tribunal's findings did not raise any substantial question of law under Section 100 CPC.

Lesson Learnt

A government company (like BSNL) that inherits a government department's business does not automatically inherit the government's special extended limitation period for lawsuits: it must sue within the ordinary time limits that apply to any other company or private litigant.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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