Schedule to the Limitation Act: Division I, Suits

The sections of the Limitation Act say how to compute and adjust time; the Schedule says how much time there is. Its First Division, Articles 1 to 113, governs suits. Each article has three columns: the description of the suit, the period of limitation, and the time from which the period begins to run. Most problems turn on choosing the right article, because that choice fixes both the period and the starting point. This note maps the ten Parts of Division I and sets out the articles most often examined.

1. Structure of Division I

Figure 1: Ten Parts, Articles 1 to 113

• Three columns. First column: the description of the suit. Second: the period of limitation. Third: the time from which the period begins to run (Topic 30)
• Typical periods. Three years for most money and contract claims; twelve years for most suits for possession of immovable property and for mortgage money; thirty years for redemption, foreclosure and suits by Government; one year for many personal torts and for pre-emption.
• Specific before general. The most specific article that fits the claim applies. Article 113, the residuary article, applies only where no other article does.

2. Accounts and Contracts

Figure 2: Key articles in Parts I and II

• Article 1. For a mutual, open and current account with reciprocal demands, time runs from the close of the year in which the last admitted or proved item is entered, not from each entry.
• Loans and deposits. A loan, even one payable on demand, runs from the date of the loan (Articles 19, 21). A deposit payable on demand, including a bank deposit, runs from the date of demand (Article 22), since the depositor is not expected to sue until he asks for the money.
• Promissory notes. A note payable on demand runs from the date of the note (Article 35); one payable by instalments runs from each instalment date (Article 36)
• Insurance, Article 44. Three years from the death or loss, or from the date the insurer denies the claim wholly or partly.
• Specific performance, Article 54. Three years from the date fixed for performance, or, if none, from when the plaintiff has notice that performance is refused.
• Article 55. For breach of contract not otherwise provided for: from the breach; for successive breaches, from each breach; for a continuing breach, from when it ceases.

3. Declarations, Instruments and Property

Figure 3: Key articles in Parts III to V

• Knowledge-based starts. Suits to declare forgery or an invalid adoption, and to cancel an instrument or rescind a contract, run from when the relevant facts become known to the plaintiff (Articles 56, 57, 59)
• Mortgages. A mortgagor has 30 years to redeem (Article 61(a)); a mortgagee has 30 years for foreclosure (Article 63(a)), but only 12 years to enforce payment of mortgage money by sale (Article 62)
• Possession. Suits for possession of immovable property generally have 12 years: on prior possession from dispossession (Article 64), on title from adverse possession (Article 65), on forfeiture from the breach (Article 66), and by a landlord from determination of the tenancy (Article 67)
• Movables. Property lost or stolen: three years from when the owner first learns who holds it (Article 68); property deposited or pawned: from refusal after demand (Article 70)

4. Torts, Trusts and Miscellaneous

Figure 4: Key articles in Parts IX and X

• Torts and trusts. Articles 72 to 91 cover torts (Topic 20); Articles 92 to 96 cover trust and endowment property (Topic 9)
• Pre-emption, Article 97. Only one year, from when the purchaser takes physical possession under the sale, or, if the property does not admit of physical possession, from registration of the sale deed.
• Joint family. A Mitakshara son challenging his father's alienation has 12 years from when the alienee takes possession (Article 109); a coparcener excluded from joint property has 12 years from when he learns of the exclusion (Article 110)
• Government and residuary. Suits by Government have 30 years (Article 112); any suit not otherwise provided for has three years from when the right to sue accrues (Article 113)

5. Frequently Asked Questions

What is the limitation for recovering a bank deposit?

Three years under Article 22, which runs from the date the depositor demands repayment. This differs from a loan payable on demand, where time runs from the date of the loan under Article 21.

How long does a mortgagor have to redeem the mortgaged property?

Thirty years under Article 61(a), from when the right to redeem or recover possession accrues. If the mortgagee has transferred the property for value, the mortgagor has twelve years from when the transfer becomes known to him (Article 61(b)).

What is the limitation for a suit to enforce a right of pre-emption?

One year under Article 97, from when the purchaser takes physical possession of the whole or part of the property under the sale, or, where the property does not admit of physical possession, from the date the sale deed is registered. Sections 6, 7 and 16 do not extend this period (ss.8 and 16(3)).

When does Article 113 apply?

Only where no other article of the Schedule provides a period for the suit. It gives three years from when the right to sue accrues. Courts first examine whether a specific article fits, since the residuary article is a last resort.

6. Related Topics

• Topic 29: Divisions II and III; Articles 136 and 137. Appeals and applications.
• Topic 30: Starting Point of Limitation under the Schedule. The third column in practice.