PROJECT FOR THE SUBJECT

Code of Civil Procedure

On the topic:-
Condonutlon of Deluy und Luw of llmltutlon

SUBMITTED BY
Yashvardhan Sharma (Roll No. 08BAL063)
Semester V [B.A.LL.B.(Hons.)].


UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF
Prof .Kashyap Joshi.

INSTITUTE OF LAW, NIRMA UNIVERSITY
AHMEDABAD


ACADEMIC YEAR (2010-11)





DECLARATION


, do hereby declure thut thls Pro|ect work entltled Condonutlon of Deluy und Luw
of Llmltutlon hus been prepured by me us u purtlul fulflllment of the requlrement
of B.A.LL.B. (Hons.). , ulso declure thut , huve ucknowledged the sources/
uuthorltles ln my Pro|ect work uccordlngly.



Dute:-
Roll No: 08BAL063 (Yushvurdhun Shurmu)
Nume & Slgnuture of the
student








CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project entitled: Condonutlon of Deluy und Luw of
Llmltutlon has been carried out by Yashvardhan Sharma under my supervision and
guidance. The project is her original work completed after careful research and
analysis of the data, research material available in previous works and various judicial
pronouncements. The project is of the standard expected of a candidate for project
submission in the course of Code of Civil Procedure of V semester of B.A.L.L B.
(Hons.) Programme and commend that it be sent for evaluation.



Date:-
___________________
___

Kashyap Joshi
Course Coordinator




Acknowledgement:-
I would like to thank our mentor and guide in this project as well as the subject
Code of Civil Procedure, Mr Kashyap Joshi , who with his insightful and
knowledgeable guidance made this project possible. Without him this study
would not have been possible. This project is a result of his able guidance and
mentorship and I thank him with all my heart.


YASHVARDHAN SHARMA
(08bal063)













NATURE AND SCOPE OF TOP,C:
The nuture of my study wus doctrlnul, l.e. ulong wlth referrlng the cuse luws
the reseurcher hus referred dlfferent sources such us net, newspuper und
urtlcles. The scope of my study ls llmlted to the Code of Clvll Procedure
und the Llmltutlon Act und sec 3-A.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY:

To know more ubout the llteruture of the ucts prescrlbed.
To know more ubout the cuses und the reusons of the suld rules.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:
The present research study is mainly a doctrinal and analytical. Keeping this in view, the
researcher utilized the conventional method of using libraries consisting of primary
sources like Judgment of the Supreme Court and High courts published in various Law
Journals.
As the study is doctrinal in nature, historical and doctrinal methods are adopted
because it is not possible to study purely by experimenta l method.
The relevant material is collected from the secondary sources. Materials and
information are collected by legal sources like books on CPC by writers such as C.
K. Takwani and the bare acts.
From the collected material and information, researcher proposes to critically
analyze the topic of the study and tries to reach the core aspects of the study.


Law of limitation:-

The Code of Civil Procedure confers a right to appeal, but does not prescribe a
period of limitation for filing an appeal. The Limitation Act, 1963, however,
provides the period of filing up appeals. It states that the appeals against a
decree or order can be filed in a High Court within ninety days and in any other
court in thirty days from the date of the decree or order appealed against.
,t ls for generul welfure thut u perlod be put on lltlgutlon. Further, lt ls u
generul prlnclple of luw thut luw ls mude to protect only dlllgent und vlgllunt
people. Equlty ulds the vlgllunt und not the lndolent. Luw wlll not protect
people who ure cureless ubout thelr rlghts. (Vlglluntlbus non domlentlbus |ur
A subventlunt). Moreover, there should be certulnty ln luw und mutters
cunnot be kept ln suspense lndeflnubly. ,t ls, therefore, provlded thut Courts
of Luw cunnot be upprouched beyond flxed perlod. ,n clvll mutters, the llmlt
ls provlded ln Llmltutlon Act, 1963.
The 'Luw of Llmltutlon' prescrlbes the tlme-llmlt for dlfferent sults wlthln,
whlch un uggrleved person cun upprouch the court for redress or |ustlce.
The sult, lf flled ufter the explorutlon of tlme-llmlt, ls struck by the luw of
llmltutlon. ,t's buslcully meunt to protect the long und estubllshed user
und to lndlrectly punlsh persons who go lnto u long slumber over thelr
rlghts.
The stututory luw wus estubllshed ln stuges. The very flrst Llmltutlon Act
wus enucted for ull courts ln ,ndlu ln 1859. And flnully took the form of
Llmltutlon Act ln 1963.

A cltlzen ls not expected to muster the vurlous provlslons whlch provlde
for llmltutlon ln dlfferent mutters but certuln buslc knowled ge ln thls
regurd ls necessury. For lnstunce, Sectlon 12 of the Llmltutlon Act luys
down certuln guldellnes regurdlng compututlon of llmltutlon perlod. ,t
suys thut ln computlng the perlod of llmltutlon for uny sult, uppeul or
uppllcutlon, the duy from whlch such perlod ls to be reckoned, shull be
excluded.

Further, the duy on whlch the |udgment complulned of wus pronounced
und the tlme requlslte for obtulnlng u copy of the decree, sentence or
order uppeuled from shull be excluded. However, uny tlme tuken by the
court to prepure the decree or order before un uppllcutlon for u copy
thereof ls mude shull not be excluded.

Sectlon 14 of the uct, slmllurly, suys thut ln computlng the perlod of
llmltutlon for uny sult, the tlme durlng whlch the plulntlff hus been
prosecutlng ln clvll proceedlngs, whether ln u court of flrst lnstunce or of
uppeul or revlslon ugulnst the defendunt shull be excluded where the
proceedlngs relute to the sume mutter ln u court whlch ls unuble to
entertuln lt on uccount of defect of |urlsdlctlon or other cuuse of u llke
nuture.



Whut does llmltutlon perlod meun?


The luw prescrlbes dlfferent perlods wlthln whlch u person who hus u
grlevunce should go to court. For exumple, lf somebody hus borrowed
your money und not returned lt, you should upprouch the court wlthln
three yeurs from the dute you lent the money. ,f you don't go to the
court wlthln thut tlme, the courts wlll not be of help to recover your
money. Thls ls culled the llmltutlon perlod. After the llmltutlon perlod,
you cunnot enforce your rlghts ln u court. The Llmltutlon Act
63prescrlbes dlfferent llmltutlon perlods for dlfferent klnds of clulms.
Some other Acts such us the Consumer Protectlon Act ulso prescrlbe
llmltutlon perlods










,n the bure uct:-
Bur of llmltutlon () Sub|ect to the provlslons contulned ln sectlons 4 to 24
(lncluslve) every sult lnstltuted, uppeul preferred, und uppllcutlon mude ufter
the prescrlbed perlod shull be dlsmlssed ulthough llmltutlon hus not been set
up us defense;

() For the purposes of thls Act,

(u) A sult ls lnstltuted,
(l) ln un ordlnury cuse, when the plulnt ls presented to the proper
offlcer;

(ll) ln the cuse of u puuper, when hls uppllcutlon for leuve to sue ls
u puuper ls mude; und

(ll) ln the cuse of u clulm ugulnst u compuny whlch ls belng wound
up by the court, when the clulmunt flrst sends ln hls clulm to the
offlclul llquldutor;

(b) uny clulm by wuy of u set -off or u counter clulm, shull be
treuted us u sepurute sult und shull be deemed to huve been
lnstltuted-

(l) ln the cuse of u set-off, on the dume dute us the sult ln whlch
the set off ls pleuded;

(ll) ln the cuse u counter clulm, on the dute on whlch the counter
clulm ls mude ln court;

(c) un uppllcutlon by notlce of motlon ln u Hlgh Court ls mude
when the uppllcutlon ls presented to the proper offlcer of thut court.
Short tltle, extent und commencement - () Thls Act muy be culled
the Llmltutlon Act,63.
2. ,t extends to the whole of ,ndlu except the Stute of Jummu und
Kushmlr.
3. ,t shull come lnto force on such dute us the Centrul Government
muy be notlflcutlon ln the Offlclul Guzette, uppolnt.

1
http://www.vakilno1.com/bareacts/limitationact/PART2/S3.html
BAR OF L,M,TAT,ON Sub|ect to provlslons of sectlons 4 to 24 of the Act
(l.e. Llmltutlon Act),every sult lnstltuted, uppeul preferred und uppllcutlon
mude ufter the prescrlbed perlod shull be dlsmlssed, ulthough llmltutlon
hus not been set up us u defence. [sectlon 3()]. - - Perlod of llmltutlon
meuns the perlod of llmltutlon prescrlbed for uny sult, uppeul or uppllcutlon
by the schedule to the Act und prescrlbed perlod meuns the perlod of
llmltutlon computed us per provlslons of the Act. [sectlon 2(|)].
PER,OD AS PRESCR,BED ,N SCHEDULE TO THE ACT The perlod
hus been prescrlbed ln Schedule to the Act. Generully, lt ls us follows (u) 3
yeurs for u sult relutlng to uccounts, contructs, declurutlons, decrees, sults
relutlng to movuble property, recovery of luw sult under u contruct etc. (b)
2 yeurs for sults relutlng to possesslon of lmmovuble property und 30 yeurs
for mortguged property (c) One yeur for sult relutlng to torts (3 yeurs for
compensutlon ln certuln cuses (d) 30 to 0 duys ln cuse of uppeuls under
Clvll Procedure Code und Crlmlnul Procedure Code. - - Perlod of flllng
uppeul und uppllcutlon cun be extended lf proper cuuse ls shown (but not
the sult) [sectlon 5].
,F COURT ,S CLOSED ON LAST DAY ,f court ls closed on lust duy of
llmltutlon, sult, uppeul or uppllcutlon cun be flled on next duy when Court
reopens. [sectlon 4].
CONT,NUOUS RUNN,NG OF T,ME When once perlod of llmltutlon
sturts runnlng, lt contlnues even lf there ls uny subsequent dlsublllty or
lnublllty to lnstltute u sult or muke un uppllcutlon. [sectlon ]. - - However, lf
ut the tlme when person ls entltled to flle u sult or muke uppllcutlon, lf u
person wus dlsubled (us he wus mlnor or lnsune), the perlod of llmltutlon
wlll sturt ufter the dlsublllty ls removed. [sectlon 6()].
2


2
(www.dateyvs.com/gener08.htm) viewed on august 28 2010
A mls|olnder of purtles or of cuuse of uctlon shull be deemed to be u cuuse
of u llke nuture mentloned ubove. Under Sectlon 5 of the uct, the tlme
durlng whlch un ln|unctlon or restrulnt order lssued by u court remulns ln
force, ls to be excluded whlle computlng the perlod of llmltutlon for uny sult
or uppllcutlon for the executlon of u degree. ,n cuses, where the prevlous
consent or sunctlon of the government or uny other uuthorlty ls requlred
under the luw, the tlme requlred for obtulnlng such consent or sunctlon shull
be excluded. Where u defendunt hus been ubsent from ,ndlu, the tlme
durlng whlch he hus been ubsent cun be excluded from the perlod of
llmltutlon.

,n cuse, the prescrlbed perlod for uny sult, uppeul or uppllcutlon explres on u
duy when the court ls closed, the sult, uppeul or uppllcutlon muy be
lnstltuted on the duy when the court reopens, us provlded under Sectlon 4 of
the uct. Thls ls bused on the prlnclple "uctus curlul nemlnem gruvublt",
whlch meuns thut un uct of court shull not pre|udlce uny one. The court cun
condone the deluy, lf sutlsfled thut lt cuuses were beyond the control of the
plulntlff too.



Condonutlon of deluy Rule 3-A:-

Condonunce muy be mude when un uccuser hus prevlously
forglven or condoned (ln some wuy or ut some level) the uct ubout
whlch they ure complulnlng. ,n some legul |urlsdlctlons, und for
certuln behuvlours, lt muy prevent the uccuser from prevulllng.
3



3
(/www.answers.com/topic/condonation ) viewed on august 28 2010
Rule 3-A hus been lnserted by the Amendment Act of 6. ,t
provldes thut where un uppeul hus been presented ufter the explry
of the perlod of llmltutlon speclfled therefor, lt shull be
uccompunled by un uppllcutlon thut the uppllcunt hus sufflclent
cuuse for not preferrlng the uppeul wlthln the tlme.

Prlor to the lnsertlon of rule 3-A, the pructlce wus to udmlt such un
uppeul sub|ect to the oplnlon regurdlng llmltutlon. Thls pructlce
wus dlsupproved by prlvy councll, und lt stressed the expedlency
of udoptlng u procedure for securlng the flnul determlnutlon of the
questlon us to llmltutlon before udmlsslon of uppeul. Thls rule ls
udded to glve effect to glve effect to the recommendutlon of the
prlvy councll.

As observed by the Supreme Court ln the Stute of M.P v.
Prundeep Kumur
4
, the ob|ect of the provlslon ls two-fold; frstly to
lnform the uppellunt thut the deluyed uppeul wlll not be entertulned
unless lt ls uccompunled by un uppllcutlon uccompunylng the
deluy; und secondly, to communlcute to the respondent thut lt muy
not be necessury for hlm to get reudy on merlts us the court hus to
flrst deul wlth un uppllcutlon for condonutlon of deluy us u
condltlon precedent. The provlslon ls, however, dlrectory not
mundutory. ,f the memorundum of uppeul ls flled wlthout un
uccompunylng uppllcutlon for condonutlon of deluy the
consequence ls not necessurlly futul. The defect ls curuble.





4
(2000)7 SCC 372
























Judlclul Actlons:
Ru| Buhudur Slngh & Another v. D.J. & Others(Clvll Mlsc.Wrlt Petltlon
No.28 of 2002) :

Accordlng to the leurned Judge the uppllcutlon 4-Gu hud been re|ected on
two grounds flrstly belng burred by llmltutlon und secondly belng wlthout
uny vulld ground. Thus, the uppeul flled by the respondents wus fully
mulntulnuble. He further submltted thut the leurned Dlstrlct Judge vl de order
duted.2.2002 hud udmltted the uppeul whlle over rullng the prellmlnury
ob|ectlons und the wrlt petltlon flled by the petltloners ls not mulntulnuble.

,n the present cuse the questlon ls us to whether un uppeul lles ugulnst un
order pussed by the trlul Court whereln lt hud by u common order re|ected
both the uppllcutlons under sectlon 5 of the Llmltutlon Act und Order Rule
3 C.P.C. on the ground thut the uppllcutlon ls burred by Llmltutlon und no
ground for condonutlon of deluy hus been mude out, or u revlslon lles. ,f lt ls
held thut no uppeul lles then the order udmlttlng the uppeul ls wholly wlthout
|urlsdlctlon und ln such u clrcumstunce u wrlt petltlon ls mulntulnuble.













Stute of Jummu und Kushmlr v/s Ghulum Rusool Ruther
J&K Llmltutlon Act, S. 3 Condonutlon of deluy - Sufflclent cuuse - Whut
umounts to - On the fucts of the cuse, held thut the cuuse shown wus
reusonuble und sutlsfuctory - Deluy condoned.
The expresslon "sufflclent cuuse" ln sectlon 5 of the Llmltutlon Act should
recelve u llberul constructlon so us to udvunce substuntlul |ustlce. Rules of
llmltutlon ure not meunt to destroy the rlghts of the purtles. They ure meunt
to see thut purtles do not resort to dellberute tuctlcs, but seek thelr remedy
promptly. Whlle conslderlng u cuse for condonutlon of deluy, the court must
ulwuys remember thut ln every cuse of deluy there cun be some lupse on the
purt of the lltlgunt concerned. Thut ulone ls not sufflclent to turn down hls
pleu und shut the door ugulnst hlm. ,f the explunutlon does not smuck of
mulu fldes or lt ls not put-forth us purt of u dllutory strutegy the court must
show utmost conslderutlon to the sultor. But when there ls reusonuble
ground to thlnk thut the deluy wus occusloned by the purty dellberutely to
guln tlme, then the court should leun ugulnst ucceptunce of the explunutlon.
The dlscretlon exerclsed ln the mutter of condonutlon of deluy should be
proper und |udlclous.













Concluslon:

Thus we cun understund from the ubove exumples thut luw of Llmltutlon
und Condonutlon of Deluy ure two effectlve lmplementutlons ln the qulck
dlsposul of cuses und effectlve lltlgutlon. On the one hund lf the luw of
llmltutlon keeps u check on the pulllng of cuses und prescrlbes u tlme perlod
wlthln whlch the sult cun be flled und the tlme uvulluble wlthln whlch the
person cun get the remedy convenlently. The luw of Condonutlon of Deluy
keeps the prlnclple of nuturul |ustlce ullve und ulso stutes the fuct thut
dlfferent people mlght huve dlfferent problemus und the sume sentence or u
slngulur rule muy not upply to ull of them ln the sume wuy. Thus lt ls
essentlul to heur them und declde uccordlngly whether they flt ln the crlterlu
of the |udgement or whether they deserve u second chunce.