S N JAYARAMA AIYAR Vs. S RAJAGOPALAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS second appeal raises a question of limitation. The suit is to take accounts of a dissolved partnership, the dissolution being on 6-10-1954. It is common ground that the last date for instituting such a suit was 6-10-1957. But 6-10-1957 and 7-10-1957 happened to be holidays. The plaint was therefore file on 8-101957 but in the court of the District Munsif Chidambaram, a wrong court. The plaint was pending in that court from that date to 18-11-1957, when the appellant got a return of it and filed the same on the same day in the court of the subordinate Judge, Cuddalore, which is the proper court. The appellant's claimed the benefit of Ss. 4 and 14 of the Limitation Act and contended that the suit was within time. The courts below declined to accept that view and concurred in dismissing the suit as out of time.

(2.) WHAT is contended for the appellants is that if the time between 8-10-1957 and 18-10-1957, namely, 42 days is added on, under S. 14 of the Limitation Act, to the period of three years, the last date for filing the plaint would be 17-111957, and that day being a holiday, applying S. 4 to the case, the plaint filed on 18-11-1957 in the proper court would be in time. On the other hand, the argument for the respondent is that the appellants are not entitled to affix and prefix the benefit of S. 4 to the time to be excluded and added on to a calculation of the period of limitation under S. 14. In other words, it is pointed out that the plaint having been filed in the wrong court on 8-10-1957, to such a case S. 4 being inapplicable, it was out of time and that Section 14 cannot be called in aid to resurrect what was already barred. The solution to the problem thus posed turns up on the interpretation of Ss. 4 and 14 of the Limitation Act.

(3.) SECTION 3 states that any suit instituted after the period of limitation prescribed therefor by the First Schedule should be dismissed although limitation has not been pleaded in defence. But where the period of limitation expires on a holiday, s. 4 enables the court to receive the plaint on the next working day as in time. The effect of S. 4 is merely to relieve the hardship arising out of the fact that the last day of limitation happens to be a holiday and extend the time for filing to the next working day. This provision does not pertain to the computation of the period of limitation. Section 14 is among the sections which bear on computation of the period of limitation. It deals with a case of a plaint filed, in a wrong court, and provides for exclusion of the time taken there and adding the same to the proper court. The section states that,