61(a)

By a mortgagor to redeem or recover possession of immoveable property mortgaged

Thirty years

When the right to redeem or to recover possession accrues

61(b)

By a mortgagor to recover possession of immoveable property mortgaged and afterwards transferred by the mortgagee for a valuable consideration

Twelve years

When the transfer becomes known to the plaintiff

61(c)

By a mortgagor to recover surplus collections received by the mortgagee after the mortgage has been satisfied

Three years

When the mortgagor re-enters on the mortgaged property

62

To enforce payment of money secured by a mortgage or otherwise charged upon immoveable property

Twelve years

When the money sued for becomes due

63(a)

By a mortgagee for foreclosure

Thirty years

When the money secured by the mortgage becomes due

63(b)

By a mortgagee for possession of immoveable property mortgaged

Twelve years

When the mortgagee becomes entitled to possession

The questions that decide the date

When did the right to redeem accrue? Ordinarily when the principal money became due under the mortgage, since section 60 gives the right only after that date. Where the mortgage fixes no date, the right accrues at once, and time runs from the mortgage.

Has anything restarted it? An acknowledgment of the mortgagor's right, or a part payment, may extend the period on the ordinary principles of the Limitation Act.

Has the right been extinguished otherwise? By a genuine and separate sale of the equity of redemption, or by a decree for foreclosure or sale — in which case limitation is beside the point.

And is the mortgagee's transferee in the picture? Where the mortgagee has transferred the property for value, the mortgagor's suit for possession falls under Article 61(b) and the period is twelve years from knowledge of the transfer, not thirty.

Article 65 and section 27

Article 65 — a suit for possession of immoveable property or any interest therein based on title must be brought within twelve years, and time runs from the date when the possession of the defendant becomes adverse to the plaintiff.

Section 27 — at the determination of the period limited to any person for instituting a suit for possession of any property, his right to that property is extinguished.

Section 27 is the exception to the general principle that limitation bars the remedy and not the right. In suits for possession, the expiry of the period destroys the title itself.

Who must prove what

The plaintiff proves his title; the burden of proving adverse possession is on the defendant who sets it up

What adverse possession requires

Possession that is actual, open, continuous, hostile to the true owner and to his knowledge, for the statutory period — nec vi, nec clam, nec precario

When time starts

Not from the plaintiff's loss of possession as such, but from the date the defendant's possession becomes adverse to him

Permissive possession

Never adverse. A tenant, a licensee or a person let in by permission does not hold adversely until he asserts a hostile title to the owner's knowledge

Possession by a co-owner

Presumed to be on behalf of all; it becomes adverse only on a clear ouster brought home to the others

The effect of expiry

Under section 27 the owner's right is extinguished, and the possessor's title is perfected

54

Specific performance of a contract

Three years from the date fixed for performance, or, where none is fixed, from when the plaintiff has notice that performance is refused

58

To obtain any other declaration

Three years from when the right to sue first accrues

59

To cancel or set aside an instrument or decree, or for rescission of a contract

Three years from when the facts entitling the plaintiff to have the instrument cancelled first become known to him

Section 6

Extension of the period for a person under legal disability — minority, insanity or idiocy

The period runs from the cessation of the disability, subject to the limits the Act imposes

Sections 18 and 19

Fresh period on acknowledgment in writing, and on part payment

A new period runs from the acknowledgment or payment

Section 60 — right of redemption

Subsists until extinguished by act of parties or decree; and in any event until the thirty-year period expires

Section 83 — deposit in court

May be made at any time after the money becomes due and before a suit for redemption is barred

Section 91 — persons entitled to redeem

Each of them is subject to the same period as the mortgagor

Section 53A — part performance

The defence is not barred by limitation, and survives the expiry of the period for specific performance

Section 100 — charges

Enforced as a simple mortgage, within the twelve-year period under Article 62

Section 95 — the redeeming co-mortgagor's charge

Must likewise be enforced within the period for a charge on immoveable property

📖 Ravinder Kaur Grewal v. Manjit Kaur, (2019) 8 SCC 729

Held: The Court held that a person who has perfected his title by adverse possession may use it not only as a defence but also as the basis of a suit. Where a possessor has held adversely for the statutory period, the title of the true owner is extinguished by section 27 of the Limitation Act, and the possessor's own title is perfected; he may accordingly sue to recover possession if he is subsequently dispossessed.

Ratio: Adverse possession, once perfected, confers a title that may be asserted as a plaintiff and not merely pleaded as a defence.

📖 Narandas Karsondas v. S.A. Kamtam, (1977) 3 SCC 247

Held: The mortgagor's right of redemption subsists so long as the mortgage subsists and until it is extinguished in one of the ways the law recognises. A contract for sale by the mortgagee does not extinguish it; the equity of redemption survives until the sale is completed by a registered conveyance.

Ratio: The long period allowed for redemption reflects the character of the equity of redemption as an interest in property.