S S RATHORE Vs. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is by special leave and is directed against the judgment of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh by which the High Court has in second appeal upheld the dismissal of the plaintiffs suit on the plea of limitation.

(2.) The plaintiff, a Government Servant of Madhya Pradesh, was dismissed from service by the Collector on 13th of January, 1966. He preferred an appeal to the Divisional Commissioner and that appeal was dismissed on 31-8-1966. The order of dismissal of the appeal was communicated to the plaintiff on 19-9-1966. The plaintiff gave notice under S. 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure on 17-6-1969 and filed his suit on 30th of September, 1969, asking for a declaration that the order of dismissal was inoperative and he continued to be in service. This suit has been dismissed in the Courts below on acceptance of the defence plea that it had not been filed within three years from the date when the cause of action first arose, as required under Article 58 of the First Schedule of the Limitation Act, 1963.

(3.) When this appeal came up for hearing before a Division Bench, reliance was placed on the decision of this Court in Sita Ram Goel v. The Municipal Board, Kanpur, (1959) SCR 1148 in support of the contention that the suit was barred by limitation. The Division Bench extracted a passage from Goel's judgment where it said: