Limitation: the deadline that quietly kills good cases

The most painful conversations in this practice are not about weak cases. They are about strong cases brought too late.

What limitation does

The Limitation Act, 1908 fixes a period within which each kind of claim must be filed. Once it expires the claim is barred, and the court will dismiss it on that ground without ever reaching the merits. It does not matter how clear the fraud was or how obviously the money is owed.

Different claims carry very different periods. A suit on a contract is measured in a few years; a suit for possession of immovable property is measured in many; some tort claims, defamation among them, run out in a single year. The period also runs from a specific event defined by law, often the date of the breach, of the refusal, or of the day you knew or ought to have known, and not from the date you decided to act.

Why people miss it

Almost never through ignorance of the deadline. Nearly always through one of these:

• Negotiating. Months of "he says he will pay next month" do not stop time running.
• Waiting for a parallel case. A pending criminal complaint does not extend the civil limitation period.
• Filing in the wrong forum. Time spent in a court that had no jurisdiction is often time lost.
• Assuming the clock starts when you found out. Sometimes it does. Often it starts earlier.

Acknowledgement can restart it, but only in writing

Where a debtor acknowledges the liability in writing before the period expires, a fresh period can begin from the date of that acknowledgement. This is why a signed confirmation of balance, or even a clear written admission in correspondence, is worth asking for during any negotiation over money.

A verbal assurance is worth nothing for this purpose. Get it in writing.

What to do about it

Two practical rules:

First, when something goes wrong, whether a payment missed, a transfer refused or a document discovered, note the date. That date, not the date of your last frustrating phone call, is usually where the clock starts.

Second, take advice early even if you do not intend to litigate yet. Establishing the limitation position takes one meeting. Discovering it after the period has run cannot be undone.

If the deadline has passed

It is not always the end. The Act itself provides for the exclusion of certain periods, and there are circumstances in which the position is arguable: fraud that was concealed, disability, or time spent bona fide in the wrong forum. It is arguable, not certain, and it is a much harder case to run than one filed in time.