The Kerala High Court has held that an execution petition filed beyond the statutory twelve-year limitation period prescribed under Article 136 of the Limitation Act is time-barred and cannot be sustained.
Justice P. Krishna Kumar, while allowing a petition under Article 227 of the Constitution, set aside the order of the Additional Sub Court, Thalassery, which had found the decree-holder’s execution petition maintainable.
The Court clarified that the benefit of Section 14(2) of the Limitation Act, which allows exclusion of time spent in bona fide proceedings before a court without jurisdiction, could not be invoked when both execution petitions were filed in the same court. The earlier execution petition had been returned due to an erroneous perception of jurisdiction, not because the court lacked jurisdiction in law.
Observing that “Section 14 does not extend to cases where a court possessing jurisdiction erroneously declines to entertain a proceeding,” the High Court held that the decree-holder could not claim exclusion of time during which the earlier execution petition was pending. Since Section 5 of the Limitation Act does not apply to execution proceedings, the Court concluded that the second execution petition was barred by limitation and dismissed it accordingly.
Appearances:
Petitioner: SRI.N.M.MADHU; SMT.C.S.RAJANI
Respondent: ADV SMT.LATHA ANAND,SC, VIJAYA BANK
