Time as Essence and Liquidated Damages Clauses: A Critique of Welspun Specialty v ONGC.

The recent decision of the Supreme Court of India in Welspun Specialty Solutions Limited v Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd discusses several issues critical to Indian contract law. The court considered the important issue of the interface between liquidated damages clause and time-as-essence stipulations. This paper discusses the decision and critically evaluates its reasoning. It argues that the question of whether time is of the essence of an agreement is not relevant for determining whether liquidated damages are payable under the agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]