Filing A Suit For Recovery Of Money Under The Limitation Act- The Limitation Act, 1963 provides for a certain fixed period for filing up appeals and cases. It is based on a general principle that for any act which is in violation of any law, there has to be a strict period to file to protect only diligent and reasonable people and not to those who are careless about their rights. It is provided by a Latin maxim “Vigilantibus non domeintibus jur a subventiunt”. The law provides for that the limitation in the High Court is within ninety days and in any other court within a span of thirty days from the date on which the said order or decree has been appealed. Thus, this general principle provides for a stipulated time to file a certain suit and if a person approached the Court after the time given, it gets struck by the law of limitation, and the suit is declined to be submitted in the Court. The Limitation Act of 1963 provides for the limitation in civil suits.
Section 12 of the said Act provides for guidelines that describe the different angles and situations through which the limitation period is described. It describes that when the period of limitation is to be seen and calculated the day from which such time period is to be reckoned for any suit or appeal filed will not be included and the day on which the judgment is pronounced or a decree or order is appealed will also be excluded from the limitation period. The Act further states in Section 14 that if there is any such case where the plaintiff has been prosecuting the defendant in civil proceedings on same subject matter where the Court is unable to ascertain it on the basis of jurisdiction or any other cause is also excluded from the limitation period.
The Limitation Act provides for the different time periods for different types of situations in civil cases. The limitation periods are provided in the Schedule to the Act such as in case of the money borrowed and not returned, the limitation period for filing such suit is of three years from the date the money has been lent. The Schedule in the Act provides for different structures and different periods for limitation such as- a period of three years for a suit which relates to accounts, declarations, contracts, and twelve years for the suit which relates to possession of the immovable property and thirty years for mortgaged property and thirty to ninety days in case of appeals under the Civil Procedure Criminal Code and CPC.
The Act also provides for the provision of Condonation of delay. Rule 3- A of the said Act provides for that if there is any appeal which is provided after the said limitation period as provided under the Act, the said appeal has to be filed along with an application.
The application that is being filed along with the appeal under such provision has to provide for a sufficient cause for not filing the appeal in a stipulated time period. It has been discussed and held in cases that the essence of such provision is to inform the appellant that there has to be an application attached to the appeal being submitted to the Court and that the Court may not proceed with the merits of the case at first hand and deals with the application of Condonation as a first part. It is deemed to be a discretionary provision and depends on the discretion of the judge.[1]
As far as the provision for recovery of money is concerned as it has been mentioned earlier the limitation Act provides for a time period of three years to file an appeal against such decree or order where there is a question of recovery of money. In another case, a petition under Order 7 Rule 11 of the CPC was dismissed by the Court. The respondent had filed a suit of recovery. The respondent had transferred Rs. 5,00,000 on 16-03-2015 and the petitioner had filed an application under Order 7 Rule 11 for rejection of plaint as the suit was filed on 16-03-2018 which was beyond the limitation period of three years as has been described in the Act and thus it is barred by the law. The case was appealed in the High Court and the Court found the application to be without merit. The Act has clearly provided under section 12 that for the purpose of limitation, the date on which any appeal, suit or application is filed will be excluded for the purposes of limitation and the period will start from the day after. Thus the Court held the application filed to be valid as it was within the scope of three years.[2]
Thus, in case of a suit for recovery of money, it is pertinent to note that care is taken so that the petition, suit or application is filed within the stipulated time of limitation that has been provided that is of three years. If the suit is filed after the limitation period is over, the party filing such application, petition or suit has to prove to the Court the reason for such delay. Such a decision will be at the discretion of the Court as provided under Rule 3-A treated as Condonation of delay. Furthermore, as has been described earlier, the day on which such suit or petition is filed will not be considered to be part of the limitation period and the limitation will start from the next day.
[1] M.P. v. Prandeep Kumar, 2000 Supp (3) SCR 235
[2] Brijesh Yadav v. Bijender Kumar Kaushik, 2018 SCC OnLine Del 13225

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