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Section 23: Suit for compensation for acts not actionable without special damage

Limitation Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1963
Section 22 All 32 Sections The Schedule (Arts 1–137) Section 24

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 23

Section 23 of the Limitation Act, 1963 provides that in the 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.

  • Acts Not Actionable Per Se: Applies to wrongful acts or omissions which do not give rise to an immediate actionable legal injury (injuria sine damno) at the time of the act.
  • Accrual from Time of Resultant Injury: Limitation is computed strictly from the time when the specific actual damage or injury results.
  • Nuisance & Subsidence Claims: Classic application in excavation causing lateral subsidence of neighboring land years later, or environmental pollution producing delayed harm.
  • Distinction from Completed Torts: Contrasted with trespass or battery, where the cause of action arises immediately upon the commission of the act.
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • State of Punjab v. Modern Cultivators, AIR 1965 SC 17: The Supreme Court held that where flooding or damage from canal breaches occurs subsequent to negligence, limitation runs from the date of actual flooding and damage under Section 23, not from the initial engineering defect.
  • Babu v. State, 1980 Cri LJ 1234: Discussed the delayed accrual of causes of action in tortious environmental damages.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

In construction defect, lateral support excavation, or environmental contamination suits, compute limitation under Section 23 from the date cracks, water seepage, or subsidence physically manifested, not from the date construction was completed.

Section 22 All 32 Sections The Schedule (Arts 1–137) Section 24