The Limitation Act, 1963

Summary of the Limitation Act, 1963

Objectives of the Act

• To prescribe limitation periods for filing suits, appeals, and applications.

• To ensure that legal claims are pursued within a reasonable time.

• To promote certainty, finality, and efficiency in the administration of justice.

• To provide for extension or exclusion of limitation in specified circumstances.

Key Provisions

• Schedules of Limitation: The Act contains a Schedule prescribing different limitation periods for various types of civil suits, appeals, and applications, along with the point from which the limitation period begins to run.

• Bar of Limitation: A suit, appeal, or application filed after the prescribed limitation period is generally barred, even though the underlying right may continue to exist.

• Extension of Time: Courts may condone delays in filing certain appeals and applications if the applicant shows sufficient cause for not filing within the prescribed period.

• Exclusion of Time: The Act provides for exclusion of certain periods in computing limitation, such as time spent prosecuting proceedings in good faith before a court without jurisdiction, or where legal proceedings are stayed by injunction or order.

• Disability: Special provisions apply where the person entitled to sue is a minor, of unsound mind, or otherwise under a legal disability at the time the right to sue accrues.

• Acknowledgment and Part Payment: A written acknowledgment of liability or part payment made before the expiry of the limitation period may give rise to a fresh limitation period in specified cases.

• Acquisition of Ownership by Prescription: The Act also lays down the law relating to the acquisition of rights by prescription, including easements and, in certain circumstances, ownership through adverse possession.