I have not come across any such Supreme Court judgment. Moreover, as I have pointed out in a recent reply (Period of Limitation) while Section 15(5) of the Limitation Act provides for excluding from the period of limitation for any suit the time during which the defendant has been absent from India, there is no similar provision for exclusion of the period during which the plaintiff or the complainant has been absent from India.
That said, while period spent by the plaintiff / complainant abroad may not be eligible for being excluded from the period of limitation, it may be still relevant for explaining the delay and for being considered for condoning the delay. So, if the visit abroad was for some urgent / unavoidable reasons, and it was not any luxury visit or for any unnecessary purpose, then you may definitely cite the ground of your being out of India on some important work as the reason for delay. The court may generally accept such explanation and may condone the genuine delay caused by the complainant / plaintiff being out of India for some unavoidable and important work, provided it has the power to condone the delay for that type of proceedings.
Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.
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