Holding

The period of limitation under Article 136 of the Limitation Act runs from the date of the decree (i.e., the date of judgment) and not from the date when the decree is actually drawn up and signed.

Summary

The appellant filed a suit in 1980 for recovery of a sum of money; the High Court decreed the suit ex‑parte on 8 March 1982, but the formal decree was only drawn up and signed on 9 August 1983. An execution petition filed in 1995 was allowed, but the High Court division bench later set aside the execution order on the ground that the petition was barred by the 12‑year limitation period under Article 136 of the Limitation Act. The appellant contended that the limitation should start from the date the decree became enforceable – i.e., when the decree was actually prepared – invoking the maxim *actus curiae neminem gravabit*. The Supreme Court held that, under Order 6‑A of CPC Order XX, the last paragraph of the judgment is deemed to be a decree for execution purposes until the formal decree is drawn, so the decree is enforceable from the date of judgment. Consequently, the limitation period runs from the date of the decree (judgment) and not from the date of its preparation, and no hardship was shown to invoke the maxim. The appeal was dismissed, upholding the High Court’s decision to set aside the execution order.

Issues considered

Does the limitation period under Article 136 of the Limitation Act, 1963 commence from the date of the decree or from the date when the decree is drawn up and signed?
Can the maxim *actus curiae neminem gravabit* be invoked to exclude the time taken by the court to prepare the decree from the limitation period?

Legislation cited

Code of Civil Procedure, 1908s. Order 20 Rule 6-A, s. Order 20 Rule 7, s. Order 21 Rule 11, s. Order XXI Rule 11, s. Order XX Rule 6-A
Limitation Act, 1963s. 12(2), s. 136, s. 5

Subjects

Limitation ActArticle 136execution of decreedecree enforceabilityCivil Procedure CodeOrder 6-Aactus curiae neminem gravabitmoney decreeSupreme Court

Judgment

WEST BENGAL ESSENTIAL COMMODITIES SUPPLY A
CORPORATION
v.
SWADESH AGRO FARMING AND STORAGE
PVT. LTD. AND ANR.

SEPTEMBER 14, 1999 B

[K. VENKATASWAMI AND SYED SHAH MOHAMMED
QUADRI, JJ.]

Limitation Act, 1963; Articles 136 and 12(2)-Execution of decree- C
Claim for exclusion of period taken by Court for drawing up and signing the
decree-Suit for recovery of amount-Decided on 8.3./982-Decree order
actually drawn up and signed by Judge on 9. 8.1983-Application for
execution of decree on 5.6.1995-Allowed-On appeal Division Bench of
High Court setting aside the execution order on the ground that the execution D
· · petition was barred but limitation-Legality of-Held, the period of limitation
staris from the date of decree and not from the date when it is actually drawn
up and signed by Judge-Thus, High Court justified in setting aside the
execution order on the ground of /imitation-Civil Procedure Code, 1908:
Order 20 Rules 6-A and 7 and Order 21 Rule 11.
E
Legal Ma"Cims :

"Actus curia neminem gravbit"-Applicability of

Appellant filed a suit in the High Court against the respondents for
recovery of certain amount with interest. On 8.3.1982, the High Court F
decreed the suit ex-parte in favour of appellant. But, the decree was actually
drawn up and signed by the Judge only on 9.8.1983. The appellant filed an
application on 5.6.1995 for execution of the decree which was allowed. However,
on appeal, Division Bench of the High Court set aside the order of executing
court holding that execution order was barred by limitation under Article
136 of Limitation Act, 1963. Hence the present appeal. G
The contentions of the appellant was that for purposes of Article 136
of the Limitation Act, the starting point of limitation is not the date of the
decree but the date when the decree becomes enforceable; it was only when
the decree was actually drawn up and signed, after a lapse of one year and
399
H
400 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1999] SUPP. 2 S.C.R.

A three months of delivering the judgment, that it become enforceable and from
that date the appellant was entitled to the benefit of full period of limitation;
so its application for execution could not be held to be barred by limitation;
.....
that due to the court taking more than a year and three months to draw up
and sign the decree, the period of limitation of 12 years, available to the
B appellant, is cut short so that starting point of limitation has to be computed
from the date of signing of the decree to avert hardship and prejudice to him.

The contention of the respondent was that under Rule 6-A(2)(b) of
Order XX C.P.C., for purposes of execution of the decree the last portion of
the judgment itself will be treated as a decree, irrespective of the date when
C the decree is actually drawn up and signed and that under Rule 7 of Order
XX C.P.C. the decree has to bear the date of judgment; from the date of
judgment till the expiry of the period oflimitation, the decree holder had the
opportunity of executing the decree so he cannot have any grievance for late
drawing up of the decree and stampiag the date of the judgment on it;
Executing Court might require the applicant seeking execution of the decree
D under sub-rule (2) to produce a certified copy of the decree, but the execution
petition need not be accompanied by a certified copy of the decree; Sections
12(2) and 5 of the Limitation Act did not apply to execution petitions and if
the contentions of the appellant were to be accepted then it would amount to
rewriting those provisions so as to provide for excluding the time for
E preparation and signing of the decree.
Dismissing the appeal, the Court

HELD: 1.1. The period oflimitation under Article 136 of the Limitation
Act 1963 runs from the date of the decree and not from the date when the
decree is actually drawn up and signed by the Judge. Thus, there is no
F
illegality in the impugned judgment of the High Court. [409-F]

1.2. Rule 6-A of Order XX of Civil Procedure Code, 1908 enjoins that
the last paragraph of the judgment shall state in precise terms the relief
which has been granted by such judgment. It has fixed the outer time limit
G of 15 days from the date of the pronouncement of the judgment within which
the decree must be drawn up. In the event of the decree not so drawn up,
clause (a) of sub-rule (2) of Rule 6-A enables a party to make an appeal under
Rule 1 of Order XLI CPC without filing .a copy of the decree appealed against ·
and for that purpose the last paragraph of the judgment shall be tre_l!ted as
a decree. For the purpose of execution also, provision is made in clause (b)
H of the said sub-rule which says that so long as the decree is not drawn up,
WEST BENGAL ESSENTIAL COMMODITIES SUPPLY CORPN. v. SIVADESH AGRO FARMING AND STORAGE 401

the last paragraph of the judgment shall be deemed to be a decree. Clause A
J. (b) thus enables the party interested in executing the decree before it is
drawn up to apply for a copy of the last paragraph only, without being
required to apply for a copy of the whole of the judgment. It further lays down
that the last paragraph of the judgment shall cease to have the effect of the
decree for purposes of execution or for any other purposes when the decree B
has been drawn up. Thus the decree became enforceable the moment the
judgment is delivered and merely because there is delay in drawing up of the
decree, it cannot be said that the decree is not enforceable till it is prepared.
This is so because an enforceable decree in one form or the other is available
to a decree holder from the date of the judgment till the expiry of the period
of limitation under Article 136 of the Limitation Act. [406-E-F-G-H; 407-A) C

Rameshwar Singh v. Homeswar Singh, AIR (1921) PC 31, referred to.

1.3. Under the scheme of the Limitation Act, execution applications
like plaints have to be presented in the court within the time prescribed by
the Limitation Act. A decree holder does not have the benefit of exclusion D
of the time taken for obtaining the certified copy of the decree like the
appellant who prefers an appeal, much less can he claim to deduct time taken
by the Court in drawing up and signing the decree. If the time is reckoned
not from the date of the decree but from the date when it is prepared it would
amount to doing violence to the provisions of the Limitation Act as well as
of Order XX and Order XXI Rule 11 C.P.C. which is clearly impermissible. E
[409-C-E)

Sri Chandra Mouli Deva v. Kumar Binoya Nand Singh & Ors., AIR
(1976) Pat. 208, approved.

Ram Krishna Tarafdar v. Nemai Krishna Tarafdar & Ors., AIR (1974) F
Cal. 173, overruled.

2. There may, however, be situations in which a decree may not be
enforceable on the date it is passed. First a case where a decree is not
executable until the happening of a given contingency, for example, when a G
decree for recovery of possession of immoveable property directs that it shall
not be executed till the standing crop is harvested; in such a case time will
not begin to run until harvesting of the crop and the decree becomes
enforceable from that date and not from the date of the judgment/decree.
Secondly, when there is a legislative bar for the execution of a decree then
enforceability will commence when the bar ceases. Thirdly, in a suit for H
402 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1999] SUPP. 2 S.C.Rl

A partition of immovable properties after passing.of preliminary decree when,
in final decree proceedings, an order is passed by the court declaring the
rights of the parties in the suit properties, it is not executable till final,
decree is engrossed on non-judicial stamp paper supplied by the parties
within the time specified by the Court and the same is signed by the Judge
B and sealed. However, in the instant case, the decree is a money decree •. The
decree became enforceable immediately on the pronouncement of the judgment
as thereupon a deemed decree came into existence. It cannot, therefore, be
said that the delay in drawing up of the decree renders it unenforceable from
the date of the judgment (407-C-D-E-F-G-Hl

C Shankar Ba/want Lokhande (Dead) by lrs. v. Chandrakant Shankar
lokhande & Anr., (1995] 3 SCC 413, held inapplicable.

3. The maxim "actus curiae neminem gravabit" would apply to relieve
a party of the hardship or prejudice caused due to the act of the Court. But
to invoke this maxim it is not enough to show that there is delay in drawing
D up of the decree, it must also be shown that the appellant had suffered some
hardship or prejudice due to the delay of the Court. In other words, there
must be a nexus between the act of the court complained ofand the hardship
or prejudice suffered by the party. But, in the instant case, there is no nexus
between drawing up of the decree after more than a year from the date of
the judgment and its execution petition getting barred by limitation. It may
E be noticed here that the scheme of the Code, having taken note of the delay
in preparation and signing of the decree, provides enough safeguards to the
parties to execute the decree from the date of the judgment/decree till the
expiry of the period of limitation. (408-A-B-F-G]

Raj Kumar Dev & Ors. v. Tarapade Dey & Ors., (1987]4 SCC 398 and
F Gursharan Singh & Ors. v. New Delhi Municipal Committee & Ors., (1996]
2 sec 459, distinguished.

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 5005 of
1999.

G From the Judgment and Order dated 30.9.97 of the Calcutta High Court
in A.No. Nil/96 in Suit No.504/80 in G .A.No. 374 of 1995.

Tapas Ray and Avijit Bhattacharjee for the Appellant.

P. Bhaskar Gupta, Pradeep Ranjan Tiwary, P.K. Bagaria, Utpal Bose,
H Santosh Kumar and Pavan Kumar for the Respondents.
WEST BBNOAL BSSBNTIAL COMMODITIBS SUPPLY CORPN. •· SWADESH AGRO PARMINO AND STORAGE (QUADRI, J.J 403
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by A
SYED SHAH MOHAMMED QUADRI, J. Leave is granted.
The short but a question of some significance which arises for
consideration in this appeal, is whether the period of limitation, under Article
13 6 of the Limitation Act, 1963, will start from the date of the decree or from B
the date when the decree is actually drawn up and signed by the judge.
The facts giving rise to the question may be noticed here.
On June 11, 1980, the appellant filed Suit No. 504 of 1980 iri the High
Court of Judicature at Calcutta against the respondents for recovery of a sum
of Rs. 82, 933.80 with interest. On March 8, 1982, the High Court decreed the C
suit ex-parte for the said amount with interest thereon at the rate of 6% per
annum. However, the decree was actually drawn up and signed by the learned
Judge on August 9, 1983. The appellant filed application, G.A. No. 374 of.
1995, for execution of the decree before the High Court on June 5, 1995. The
learned Executing Judge ordered execution of the decree. But, on appeal by D
the respondents, the Division Bench of the High Court set aside the order
of the learned Executing Judge holding that the execution petition was barred
by limitation under Article 136 of the Limitation Act and thus allowed the
appeal on September 30, 1997. That judgment and order is challenged by
special leave, in this appeal.
Mr. Tapas Ray, learned senior counsel appearing for the appellant, has E
argued that for purposes of Article 136 of the Limitation Act, the starting
point of limitation is not the date of the decree but the date when the decree
becomes enforceable; it was only when the decree was actually drawn up and
signed, after a lapse of one year and three and three months of delivering the
judgment, that it became enforceable, and from that date the appellant was F
entitled to the benefit of full period of limitation; so its application for execution
could not be held to be barred by limitation. According to Mr. Ray, for an
application under Order XXI Rule 11(2~.ofthe Code of Civil Procedure, a copy
of the decree must be available and tht: period of limitation must be reckoned
.., '
from the date when the Court was in a position of making a copy of the decree
available as it was on that. date the decree became executable. The learned G
counsel urged that Rule 11(2) of Order XXI must be read with Rules 6 and
7 of Order XX C.P.C. and.so read, for purposes of execution, the decree would
come into existence only when it was actually drawn up and signed and not
on the date when the judgment was pronounced.
Mr. P. Bhaskar Gupta, learned senior counsel for the, respondents, has
404 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1999] SUPP. 2 S.C.R.

A submitted that under Rule 6A(2)(b) of Order XX C.P.C., for purposes of
execution of the decree the last portion of the judgment itself will be treated
as a decree, irrespective of the date when the decree is actually drawn )ip and
signed and that under Rule 7 of Order XX C.P.C. the decree has to bear the
date of the judgment; from the date of the judgment till the expiry -of the
B period of limitation, the decree holder had the opportunity of executing the
decree so he cannot have any grievance for late drawing up of the decre~ and
stamping the date of the judgment on it. Learned senior counsel invited our
attention to sub-rule (3) of Rule 11 of Order XXI C.P.C. and contended that
the Executing Court might require the applicant seeking execution of the
decree under sub-rule (2) to produce a certified copy of the decree, but the
C execution petition need not be accompanied by a certified copy of the decree.
Sections 12(2) and 5 of the Limitation Act, submitted the learned counsel, did
not apply to execution petitions and if the contention of the appellant were
to be accepted then it would amount to rewriting those provisions so as to
provide for excluding the time for preparation and signing of the decree;
therefore, that contention is liable to be rejected.
D
On the above contentions, we shall commence the determination of the
question by first reading Article 136 of the Limitation Act which is as follows:

"136. For the execution of Twelve years [When] the decree or order
any decree (other than a becomes enforceable or
E decree granting a mandatory where the decree or any
injunction) or order of any subsequent order directs any
Civil Court. payment of money or the
delivery of any property to
be made at a certain date or
F at recurring periods when
default in making the payment
or delivery in respect of
which execution is sought
takes place:

G Provided that an application
for the enforcement or
execution of a decree
granting a perpetual
injunction shall not be
subject to any period of
H limitation."
WEST BENGAL ESSENTIAL COMMODITIES SUPPLY CORPN. v. SWADESH AGRO FARMING AND STORAGE (QUADRI, J.J 405

From a perusal of the Article, extracted above, jt is clear that for execution A
of any decree (other than a decree granting a mandatory injuction) or order
of a civil court, a period of 12 years is prescribed; Column 3 contains two
limbs indicating the time from which period of limitation begins to run, that
is, the starting point of limitation; they are: (i) when the decree or order
becomes enforceable and (ii) where the decree or any subsequent order B
directs any payment of money or the delivery of any property to be made at
a certain date or at recurring periods when default in making the payment or
delivery in respect of which execution is sought, takes place. The proviso
says that there shall be no period of limitation for enforcement or execution
of decree granting a perpetual injuction. We are concerned here with the first
of the above-mentioned starting points, namely, when the decree or an order C
becomes enforceable. A decree or order is said to be enforceable when it is
executable. For a decree to be executable, it must be in existence. A decree
would be deemed to come into existence immediately on the pronouncement
of the judgment. But it is a fact of which judicial notice may be taken of that
drawing up and signing of the decree takes some time after the pronouncement
of the judgment; the Code of Civil Procedure itself enjoins that the decree D
shall be drawn up expeditiously and in any case within 15 days from the date
of the judgment. If the decree were to bear the date when it is actually drawn
up and signed then that date will be incompatible with the date of the
judgment. This incongruity is taken care of by Order XX Rule 7 C.P.C. which,
inter alia, provides that the decree shall bear the date and the day on which E
the judgment was pronounced.

To enable a person who would like to execute the decree before it is
actually drawn up, Rule 6A is inserted in the Code by the Amendment Act,
1976 (Act 104/76), which is extracted hereunder:
F
"6-A. Last paragraph of judgment to indicate in precise terms the
reliefs granted-

(1) The last paragraph of the judgment shall state in precise terms the
relief which has been granted by such judgment.
G
(2) Every endeavour shall be made to ensure that the iiecree is drawn
up as expeditiously as possible, and, in any case, within fifteen days
from the date on which the judgment is pronounced; but where the
decree is not drawn up within the time aforesaid, the Court shall, if
requested so to do by a party desirous of appealing against the
~ecree, certify that the decree has not been drawn up and indicate in H
406 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1999] SUPP. 2 S.C.R.

A the certificate the reasons for the delay, and thereupon·

(a) an appeal may be preferred against the decree without filing a copy
of the decree and in such a case the last paragraph of the judgment
shall, for the purposes of Rule 1 of Order XLI, be treated as the
decree; and
B
(b) so long as the decree is not drawn up, the last paragraph of the
judgment shall be deemed to be the decree for the purpose of execution
and the party interested shall be entitled to apply for a copy of that
paragraph only without being required to apply for a copy of the
whole of the judgment; but as soon as a decree is drawn up, the last
c paragraph of the judgment shall cease to have the effect of a decree
for the purpose of execution oi' for any other purpose:

Provided that, where an application is made for obtaining a copy of
-
only the last paragraph of the judgment, such copy shall indicate the
name and address of all the .parties to the suit." ·
D
Rule 6A enjoins that the last paragraph of the judgment shall state in
precise terms the relief which has been granted by such judgment. It has fixed
.
the outer time limit of 15 days from the date of the pronouncement of the
judgment within which the decree must be drawn up. In the event of the
E decree not so drawn up, clause (a) of sub-rule (2) of Rule 6A enables a party
to make an appeal under Rule 1 of Order XLI C.P.C. without filing a copy of
the decree appealed against and for that purpose the last paragraph of the
--
judgment shall be treated as a decree. For the purpose of execution also,
provision is made in clause (b) of the said sub-rule which says that so long
as the decree is not drawn up, the last paragraph of the judgment shall be
F deemed to be a decree. Clause (b) has thus enabled the party interested in
executing the decree before it is drawn up to apply for a copy of the last
paragraph only, without being required to apply for a copy of the whole of
the judgment. It further lays down that the last paragraph of the judgment
shall cease to have the effect of the decree for purposes of execution or for
G any other purposes when the decree has been drawn up.

It follows that the decree became enforceable the moment, the judgment
is delivered and merely because there will be delay in drawing up of the
decree, it cannot be said that the decree is not enforceable till it is prepared.
This is so because an enforceable decree in one form or the other is available
H to a decree holder from the date of the judgment till the expiry of the period
WEST:llENOAL ESSllNTIAL COMMODITIES SUPPLY CORPN. •· SWADESH AGRO FARMING AND STORAGE (QUADRI, I.I 407
'of limitation under Article 136 of the Limitation Act. A
In Rameshwar Singh v. Homeswar Singh, AIR ( 1921) PC 31 it was held:

"They (Their Lordships) are of opinion that in order to make the
provisions of the Limitation Act apply, the decree sought to be enforced
must have been in such a form as to render it capable in the B
circumstances of being endorsed."

There may, however, be situations in which a decree may not be
enforceable on the date it is passed. First a case where a decree is not
executable until the happening of a given contingency, for example, when a
decree for recovery of possession of immoveable property directs that it shall C
not be executed till the standing crop is harvested, in such a case time will
not begin to run until harvesting of the crop and the decree becomes
enforceable from that date and not from the date of the judgment/decree. But
where no extraneous event is to happen on the fulfilment of which alone the
decree can be executed it is not a conditional decree and is capable of D
execution from the very date it is passed (Yeshwant Deorao v. Walchand
Ramchand, AIR (1951) SC 16). Secondly, when there is.a legislative bar for
the execution of a decree then enforceability will commence when the bar
ceases. Thirdly, in a suit for partition of immoveable properties after passing
of preliminary decree when, in final decree proceedings, an order is passed·
by the court declaring the rights of the parties in the suit properties, it is not E
executable till final decree is engrossed on non-judicial stamp paper supplied
by the parties within the time specified by the Court and the same is signed
by the Judge and sealed. It is in this context that the observations of this
court in Shankar Ba/want Lokhande (Dead) by Lrs. v. Chandra/cant Shankar
Lokhande & Anr., (1995] 3 sec 413 have to be understood. These observations F
do not apply to a money decree and , therefore, appellant can derive no
benefit from them.

In the instant case, the decree is a money decree. The decree became
enforceable immediately on the pronouncement of the judgments as thereupon
a deemed decree came into existence. It cannot, therefore, be said that the G
delay in drawing up of the decree renders it unenforceable from the date of
the judgment.

Ill'" The next contention of Mr. Ray is that due to the court taking more than
a year and three months to draw up and sign the decree, the period of
, limitation of 12 years, available to the appellant, is cut short so the starting H
408 SUPREME CQURT REPORTS [1999] SUPP. 2 S.C.R.

A point of limitation has to be computed from the date of signing of the decree
to avert hardship and prejudice to him. The submission appears to be attractive,
but falls to scrutinizing. The argument is obviously based on the maxim
"actus curiae beminem gravabit" (an act of the court shall prejudice no man).
It would apply to relieve a party of the hardship or prejudice caused due to
B the act of the Court. But to invoke this maxim it is not enough to show that
there is delay in drawing up of the decree, it must also be shown that the
appellant has suffered some hardship or prejudice due to the delay of the
Court. In other words, there must be a nexus between the act of the court
complained of and.the hardship or prejudice suffered by the party.

C In Raj Kumar Dey & Ors. v. Tarapada Dey & Ors. [1987] 4 SCC 398,
the Calcutta High Court had quashed the registration of the award on the
ground that it was presented for registration beyond time. This Court applying,
inter a/ia, the above maxim held that the High Court was in error in quashing
the registration of the award. There, during the material period, the award was
in the custody of the Court and the arbitrator, inspite of his efforts, could not
D have got it registered; it was presented for registration the very next day it
was returned to the arbitrator. ·
•
In Gursharan Singh & Ors. v. New Delhi Municipal Committee & Ors.,
[1996] 2 SCC 459 this Court granted interim directions in favour of the
appellants to pay licence fee at the concessional rate. At the time of final
E disposal, it was found that the appellants were not entitled to the concessional
rate. Applying the maxim "actus curiae neminem gravabit", the respondents
were ordered to be paid the balance amount together with interest.

In these cases, as can be seen, there was nexus between the action of
F the Court and the prejudice suffered by the party. But, in the instant case,
there is no nexus between drawing up of the decree after more than a year
from the date of the judgment and its execution petition. getting barred by
limitation. It may be noticed here that the scheme of the Code, having taken
note of the delay in preparation and signing of the decree, provides enough
safeguards to the partie.s to execute the decree from the date of the judgment/
G decree till the expiry of the period of l\mitation.
The decree-holder could have enforced the money decree immediately
on the pronouncement of the judgment by making an oral application under
sub-rule (1) of Rule 11 of Order :XXI C.P.C. For filing an application under sub-
rule (2) of Rule 11 C.P.C., a copy of the decree need not be enclosed. What
H all sub-rule (3) of the said Rule says is that the Court may require the
.
-

WEST BENGAL ESSENTIAL COMMODITIES SUPPLY CORPN. ••- SW ADESH AGRO FARMING AND STORAGE (QUADRI. l. J 409

applicant under sub-rule (2) to produce a certified copy of the decree. On A
being required to do so, it could have produced the last portion of the
judgment which has the effect of the decree under Rule 6A of Order XX C.P.C.
It is not a case where the appellant lost the period of limitation because of
any act <>f the Court but it is a case where the appellant failed to apply for
execution of the decree for reasons best known to it and how seeks to take
advantage of the fact that the Court took time for drawing up and signing the B
decree. In our view, the delay in drawing up and signing the decree did not
cause any prejudice to him. There is no nexus between the late drawing up
of decree by the Court and the filing of the execution petition by the appellant
after the expiry of the limitation.

Under the scheme of the Limitation Act, execution applications, like
c
plaints have to be presented in the Court within the time prescribed by the
Limitation Act. A decree holder does not have the benefit of exclusion of the
time taken for obtaining the certified copy of the decree like the appellant who
prefers an appeal, much less can he claim to deduct time taken by the Court
in drawing up and signing the decree. In this view of the matter, the High D
Courts of Patna and Calcutta in Sri Chandra Mouli Deva v. Kumar Binoya
Nand Singh & Ors., AIR (1976) Patna 208 and Sunder/a/ & Sons v. Yagendra
Nath Singh & Anr., AIR (1976) Calcutta 471 have correctly laid down the law;
the opinion to the contra expressed by the High Court of Calcutta in Ram
Krishna Tarafdar v. Nemai Krishna Tarafdar & Ors. AIR (l 974) Calcutta 173 E
is wrong. Section 5 of the Limitation Act has no application; Section I2(2) of
the Limitation Act is also inapplicable to an execution petition. If the time is
reckoned not from the date of the decree but from the date when it is
prepared, it would amount to doing violence to the provisions of the Limitation
Act as well as of Order XX and order XXI Rule I I C.P.C. which is clearly
impermissible. F
In the result, we hold that the period of limitation under Article 136 of
the Limitation Act runs from the date of the decree and not from the date
when the decree is actually drawn up and signed by the Judge. We, therefore,
do not find any illegality in the impugned judgment of the High Court. The -
appeal fails and it is accordingly dismissed. No costs. G
S.VKI. Appeal dismissed.