Indian Kanoon - Search engine for Indian Law

8.6 The stand of the respondent that the order of the Hon'ble Apex Court extending the time limit excluding the Covid 19 period to private contractors is inapplicable, is not acceptable. The Government of India, Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure, issued an Official Memorandum dated 19.02.2020 clarifying that the spread of corona virus in China or any other country will be covered in the Force Majeure Clause (FMC) and therefore it should be considered as a case of natural calamity and Force Majeure Clause (FMC) may be invoked, wherever considered necessary.

The relevant portion of the Office Memorandum is extracted hereunder :

https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis NO.F.18/4/2020-PPD Government of India Ministry of Finance Department of Expenditure Procurement Policy Division Room No.512, Lok Nayak Bhavan New Delhi dated the 19th February, 2020 OFFICE MEMORANDUM Subject: Force Majeure Clause (FMC) Attention is invited to para 9.7.7 of the "Manual for Procurement of Goods, 2017" issued by this Department, which is reproduced as under:

https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

2. A doubt has arisen if the disruption of the supply chains due to spread of corona virus in China or any other country will be covered in the Force Majeure Clause (FMC). In this regard it is clarified that it should be considered as a case of natural calamity and FMC may be invoked, wherever considered appropriate, following the due procedure as above.

https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

56. It is under this factual backdrop that the ground of Force Majeure taken in March, 2020 would have to be adjudged. The grounds taken to invoke the Force Majeure clause are that due to outbreak of COVID-19 experts from France who may be required cannot travel to India. Since the Force Majeure clause in the contract covers epidemics and pandemics, the Contractor claims that its non-