In Brief

Four related appeals challenged High Court decisions regarding the applicability of the Interest on Delayed Payment to Small Scale and Ancillary Industrial Undertakings Act, 1993. The key issue was whether the Act applies to supply contracts entered before its commencement (23.09.1992) if actual supplies were made afterward. The Supreme Court held that the Act applies prospectively based on when supplies occur, not when the contract was signed. Even contracts predating the Act attract its provisions if supplies followed the Act's commencement. The Court overruled prior conflicting precedent, affirming that money suits for interest are time-barred under the Limitation Act, not exempt by Section 10 of the 1993 Act. The appeals were dismissed as either time-barred or lacking evidence of post-Act supplies.

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