Limitation Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide
Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1963
Section 9 of Limitation Act: Continuous running of time
Official Bare Act Text
Override / Mandate Mens Rea (Intent) Actus Reus (Conduct) Punishment Limitation Monetary
Where once time has begun to run, no subsequent disability or inability to institute a suit or make an application stops it:
Provided that where letters of administration to the estate of a creditor have been granted to his debtor, the running of the time prescribed for a suit to recover the debt shall be suspended while the administration continues.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 9
Section 9 of the Limitation Act, 1963 codifies the unyielding common law rule of continuous running of time: once time has begun to run, no subsequent disability or inability stops it.
Statutory Period of Limitation: Section 9 establishes the foundational principle that once limitation begins to run upon the accrual of the cause of action, no subsequent event, disability (such as sudden mental illness or minority of an heir), or practical inability to sue can arrest or suspend its operation.
Core Legal Standard: Under Section 9 of the Limitation Act, once limitation has begun to run against a cause of action, no subsequent disability or inability to sue stops its inexorable course.
Key Landmark Precedents:
Janki Narayan Bhoir v. Narayan Namdeo Kadam, (2003) 2 SCC 91: The Supreme Court affirmed that the statutory scheme of Section 9 admits no equitable tolling; once the starting point is triggered, time runs continuously.
Yeshwant Deorao Deshmukh v. Walchand Ramchand Kothari, AIR 1951 SC 16: The Supreme Court held that subsequent events or obstacles encountered by a decree-holder do not pause the statutory limitation clock in execution proceedings.
Legal Commentary:
Section 9 is of vital significance in inheritance and succession scenarios. If a creditor dies after a debt falls due, the subsequent minority of his surviving children does not stop the limitation clock that had already commenced during the creditor's lifetime. Litigants must take swift protective steps (such as appointing a next friend) before the clock runs out.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 9
Section 9 of the Limitation Act, 1963 codifies the unyielding common law rule of continuous running of time: once time has begun to run, no subsequent disability or inability stops it.
Section 9 is of vital significance in inheritance and succession scenarios. If a creditor dies after a debt falls due, the subsequent minority of his surviving children does not stop the limitation clock that had already commenced during the creditor's lifetime. Litigants must take swift protective steps (such as appointing a next friend) before the clock runs out.