The Limitation Act, 1963
PART II: LIMITATION OF SUITS, APPEALS AND APPLICATIONS
Section 3: Bar Of Limitation
Bare Act
(1) Subject to the provisions contained in sections 4 to 24 (inclusive), every suit instituted, appeal preferred, and application made after the prescribed period shall be dismissed, although limitation has not been set up as a defence.
(2) For the purposes of this Act, -
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(a) a suit is instituted, -
- in an ordinary case, when the plaint is presented to the proper officer;
- in the case of a pauper, when his application for leave to sue as a pauper is made; and
- in the case of a claim against a company which is being wound up by the court, when the claimant first sends in his claim to the official liquidator;
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(b) any claim by way of a set off or a counter claim, shall be treated as a separate suit and shall be deemed to have been instituted -
- in the case of a set off, on the same date as the suit in which the set off is pleaded;
- in the case of a counter claim, on the date on which the counter claim is made in court;
- (c) an application by notice of motion in a High Court is made when the application is presented to the proper officer of that court.
Simplified Act
Simplified Explanation:
(1) If you file a lawsuit, appeal, or make a legal request after the time limit allowed by law has passed, it will be rejected, even if the other party doesn't mention that you were too late.
(2) According to this law:
- (a) A lawsuit is considered started when:
- Normally, you hand in the official complaint to the court officer;
- If you can't afford to pay court fees, when you ask the court for permission to sue without those fees;
- If you're making a claim against a company that's closing down, when you first give your claim to the person in charge of shutting down the company.
- (b) Any claim to reduce what you owe (set off) or to counter-sue (counter claim) is treated like its own lawsuit and is considered started:
- For a set off, on the same day you're sued;
- For a counter claim, on the day you tell the court about your counter claim.
- (c) If you make a legal request through a notice of motion in a High Court, it's considered made when you hand it to the right court officer.
Explanation using examples
Imagine a scenario where an individual, Mr. Sharma, had a contract with a company to deliver goods by January 1, 2019. The company failed to pay for the goods upon delivery. Mr. Sharma has a period of three years from the due date of payment to file a suit for the recovery of his payment according to the Limitation Act. However, Mr. Sharma, unaware of the limitation period, decides to file the suit on February 15, 2022.
Under Section 3 of the Limitation Act, 1963, the court is obliged to dismiss Mr. Sharma's suit for being instituted after the prescribed period of limitation, which ended on January 1, 2022, even if the company does not raise the defense of limitation. This demonstrates the strict application of the law, mandating the dismissal of actions brought after the legal time limit has expired.
