<span style="color: #222222;">Ministry of Finance has clarified that invocation of Force Majeure Clause, FMC would be held valid only in situation where the parties to the contract were not in default of the contractual obligation as on 19th February 2020. <br />''<br />''In an office memorandum, Department of Expenditure in Finance Ministry clarified that invocation of FMC does not absolve all non-performances of a party to the contract, but only in respect of such non-performance as is attributable to a lockdown situation or restrictions imposed under any Act or executive order of the Government on account of Covid-19 global pendemic.<br />''A force majeure clause provides temporary reprieve to a party  from performing its obligations under a contract when an event occurs which the parties could not have anticipated and controlled.</span><br />