Part III – Computation of Period of Limitation
12. Exclusion of time in legal proceedings.—
- In computing the period of limitation prescribed for any suit, appeal or application, the day from which such period is to be reckoned shall be excluded.
- In computing the period of limitation prescribed for an appeal, an application for leave to appeal and an application for a review of judgment, the day on which the judgment complained of was pronounced, and the time requisite for obtaining a copy of the decree, sentence or order appealed from or sought to be reviewed, shall be excluded.
- Where a decree is appealed from or sought to be reviewed the time requisite for obtaining a copy of the judgment on which it is founded shall also be excluded.
- In computing the period of limitation prescribed for an application to set aside an award, the time requisite for obtaining a copy of the award shall be excluded.
- For the purposes of subsections (2), (3) and (4), the time requisite for obtaining a copy of the decree, sentence, order, judgment or award shall be deemed to be the time intervening between the day on which an application for the copy is made and the day actually intimated to the applicant to be the day on which the copy will be ready for delivery.
13. Exclusion of time of defendant’s absence from Pakistan etc. and certain other territories.—
In computing the period of limitation prescribed for any suit, the time during which the defendant has been absent from [Pakistan] and from the territories beyond [Pakistan] under the administration of [the [Federal] Government][***] shall be excluded.
14. Exclusion of time of proceeding bona fide in Court without jurisdiction.-
- In computing the period of limitation prescribed for any suit, the time during which the plaintiff has been prosecuting with due diligence another civil proceeding, whether in a Court of first instance or in a Court of appeal, against the defendant, shall be excluded, where the proceeding is founded upon the same cause of action and is prosecuted in good faith in a Court which, from defect of jurisdiction, or other cause of a like nature, is unable to entertain it.
- In computing the period of limitation prescribed for any application, the time during which the applicant has been prosecuting with due diligence another civil proceeding, whether in a Court of first instance or in a Court of appeal, against the same party for the same relief shall be excluded, where such proceeding is prosecuted in good faith in a Court which, from defect of jurisdiction, or other cause of a like nature, is unable to entertain it.
Explanation I.—In excluding the time during which a former suit or application was pending, the day on which that suit or application was instituted or made, and the day on which the proceedings therein ended, shall both be counted.
Explanation II.—For the purposes of this section, a plaintiff or an applicant resisting an appeal shall be deemed to be prosecuting a proceeding.
Explanation III.—For the purposes of this section misjoinder of parties or of causes of action shall be deemed to be a cause of a like nature with defect of jurisdiction.
15. Exclusion of time during which proceedings are suspended.—
- In computing the period of limitation prescribed for any suit or application for the execution of a decree, the institution or execution of which has been stayed by injunction or order, the time of the continuance of the injunction or order, the day on which it was issued or made, and the day on which it was withdrawn, shall be excluded.
- In computing the period of limitation prescribed for any suit of which notice has been given in accordance with the requirements of any enactment for the time being in force, the period of such notice shall be excluded.
16. Exclusion of time during which proceedings to set aside execution sale are pending.—
In computing the period of limitation prescribed for a suit for possession by a purchaser at a sale in execution of a decree, the time during which a proceeding to set aside the sale has been prosecuted shall be excluded.
17. Effect of death before right to sue accrues.—
- Where a person, who would, if he were living, have a right to institute a suit or make an application, dies before the right accrues, the period of limitation shall be computed from the time when there is a legal representative of the decreased capable of instituting or making such suit or application.
- Where a person against whom, if he were living, a right to institute a suit or make an application would have accrued dies before the right accrues, the period of limitation shall be computed from the time when there is a legal representative of the decreased against whom the plaintiff may institute or make such suit or application.
Nothing in subsections (1) and (2) applies to suits to enforce rights of pre-emption or to suits for the possession of immovable property or of an hereditary office.
18. Effect of fraud.—
Where any person having a right to institute a suit or make an application has, by means of fraud, been kept from the knowledge of such right or of the title on which it is founded.
or where any document necessary to establish such right has been fraudulently concealed from him. the time limited for instituting a suit or making an application—
(a) against the person guilty of the fraud or accessory thereto, or
(b) against any person claiming through him otherwise than in good faith and for a valuable consideration,
shall be computed from the time when the fraud first became known to the person injuriously affected thereby, or, in the case of the concealed document, when he first had the means of producing it or compelling its production.
19. Effect of acknowledgment in writing.—
- Where, before the expiration of the period prescribed for a suit or application in respect of any property or right, an acknowledgment of liability in respect of such property or right has been made in writing signed by the party against whom such property or right is claimed, or by some person through whom he derives title or liability, a fresh period of limitation shall be computed from the time when the acknowledgment was so signed.
- Where the writing containing the acknowledgment is undated; oral evidence may be given of the time when it was signed; but, subject to the provisions of the Evidence Act, 1872, oral evidence of its contents shall not be received.
Explanation I.—For the purposes of this section an acknowledgment may be sufficient though it omits to specify the exact nature of the property or right, or avers that the time for payment, delivery, performance or enjoyment has not yet come, or is accompanied by a refusal to pay, deliver, perform or permit to enjoy, or is coupled with a claim to a set-off, or is addressed to a person other than the person entitled to the property or right.
Explanation II.—For the purposes of this section, “signed” means signed either personally or by an agent duly authorised in this behalf. Explanation III.—For the purposes of this section an application for the execution of a decree or order is an application in respect of a right.
20. Effect of payment on account of debt or of interest on legacy.—
24[(1) Where payment on account of a debt or of interest on a legacy is made before the expiration of the prescribed period by the person liable to pay the debt or legacy, or by his duly authorised agent, a fresh period of limitation shall be computed from the time when the payment was made:]
(2) Effect of receipt of produce of mortgaged land.—Where mortgaged land is in the possession of the mortgagee, the receipt of the rent or produce of such land shall be deemed to be a payment for the purpose of subsection (1).
Explanation.—Debt includes money payable under a decree or order of Court.
21. Agent of person under disability.—
(1) The expression “agent duly authorised in his behalf,” in sections 19 and 20, shall, in the case of a person under disability include his lawful guardian, committee, or manager or a agent duly authorised by such guardian, committee or manager to sign the acknowledgment or make the payment.
(2) Acknowledgment or payment by one of several joint contractors, etc.—Nothing in the said section renders one of several joint contractors, partners, executors or mortgagees chargeable by reason only of a written acknowledgment signed or of a payment made by or by the agent of, any other or others of them.
27(3) For the purposes of the said sections—
(a) an acknowledgment signed, or a payment made, in respect of any liability, by, or by the duly authorised agent of, any widow or other limited owner of property who is governed by the Hindu law, shall be a valid acknowledgment or payment, as the case may be, as against a reversioner succeeding to such liability; and
(b) where a liability has been incurred by, or on behalf, of, a Hindu undivided family as such, an acknowledgment or, payment made by, or by the duly authorised agent of, the manager of the family for the time being shall be deemed to have been made on behalf of the whole family.]
22. Effect of substituting or adding new plaintiff or defendant.—
(1) Where after the institution of a suit, a new plaintiff of defendant is substituted or added, the suit shall, as regards him, be deemed to have been instituted when he was so made a party.
(2) Nothing in subsection (1) shall apply to a case where a party is added or substituted owing to an assignment or devolution of any interest during the pendency of a suit or where a plaintiff is made a defendant or a defendant is made a plaintiff.
23. Continuing breaches and wrongs.—
In the case of continuing breach of contract and in the case of a continuing wrong independent of contract, a fresh period of limitation begins to run at every moment of the time during which the breach or the wrong, as the case may be, continues.
24. Suit for compensation for act no actionable without special damage.–
In case of a suit for compensation for an act which does not give rise to a cause of action unless some specific injury actually results therefrom, the period of limitation shall be computed from the time when the injury results.
Table of Contents
Part II – Limitation of Suits, Appeals and Applications
Part III – Computation of Period of Limitation