What is legal disability?Explain.

6. Legal disability –

Where a person entitled to institute a suit or make an application for the execution of a decree is, at
the time from which the prescribed period is to be reckoned, a minor or insane, or an idiot, he may
institute the suit or make the application within the same period after the disability has ceases, as
would otherwise have been allowed from the time specified therefor in the third column of the
Schedule.

(2) Where such person is, at the time from which the prescribed period it to be reckoned, affected by
two such disabilities, or where, before his disability has ceased, he is affected by another disability,
he may institute the suit or make the application within the same period after both disabilities have
ceased, as would otherwise have been allowed from the time so specified.

(3) Where the disability continues upto the death of that person, his legal representative may
institute the suit or make the application within the same period after the death, as would otherwise
have been allowed from the time so specified.

(4) Where the legal representative referred to in sub-section (3) is, at the date of the death of the
person whom he represents. affected by any such disability, the rules contained in sub-sections (1)
and (2) shall apply.

(5) Where a person under disability dies after the disability ceases but within the period allowed to
him under this section, his legal representative may institute the suit or make the application within
the same period after the death, as would otherwise have been available to that person had he not
died.

Explanation - For the purposes of this section 'minor' includes a child in the womb.

Notes - This section corresponds with section 6 of the old Act with some changes.
Q. What is continuous running of time? explain.

Continuous running of time –

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 period of limitation for a suit to recover the debt shall be
suspended while the administration continues.

12. Exclusion of time in legal proceedings –

(1) In computing the period of limitation for any suit, appeal or application, the day from which such
period is to be reckoned shall be excluded.

(2) In computing the period of limitation for an appeal or an application for leave to appeal or for
revision or for review of a judgment, the day on which the judgment complained of was pronounced
and the time requisite for obtaining a copy of the decree, sentence or order appealed from or sought
to be revised or reviewed shall be excluded.

(3) Where a decree or order is appealed from or sought to be revised or reviewed, or when an
application is made for leave to appeal from a decree or order the time requisite for obtaining a copy
of the judgment on which the decree or order is founded shall also be excluded.

(4) In computing the period of limitation for an application to set aside an award, the time requisite
for obtaining a copy of the award shall be excluded.

Explanation - In computing under this section the time requisite for obtaining a copy of a decree or
an order, any time taken by the court to prepare the decree or order before an application for copy
thereof is made shall not be excluded.

Continuous Running of Time U/S 9 LIMITATION ACT :

The rule as to the continuous running of time is one of the fundamental principles of the law
of limitation, this rule says that where once time has begun to run, it runs continuously and
without any break or interruption until the entire prescribed period has run out, and no
disability or inability to sue, occurring subsequently to the commencement will stop it
running. This rule is embodied in section 9 of the Act which applies to suits as well as
applications although the words used are inability to sue.
Scope of Section 9:

Section 9 is based on the general principle that once time has begun to run, it will continue
to do so unless stopped by virtue of any express statutory provision. Section 9 does not
affect any exemption from the limitation which may operate without stopping time from
running.

ESSENTIALS OF SECTION 9 OF THE LIMITATION ACT:

(i) Time Has Begun to Run:

For the applicability of section 9, it is necessary that time has begun to run. Generally, the
time begins to run when the cause of action accrues and the true test to determine when the
cause of action has accrued is to ascertain the time when the plaintiff could have first
maintained his action to a successful result.

(ii) Disability or Inability to Sue:

This includes disability to make applications for execution as well. Disability means the want
of legal qualification to act and inability means the want of physical power to act. This
disability is the state of being a minor insane or an idiot, whereas illness, poverty, etc. are
instances of inability

(iii) Subsequent Disability or Inability:

To apply this section. it is necessary that the disability or inability must accrue subsequent to
the cause of action.

(iv) Disability or Inability of Plaintiff:

The expression disability or inability to sue refers to something which pertains to the plaintiff.

The Proviso of section 9 of the Limitation Act:

The proviso applies only to an Administrator under the grant of letters where he is a debtor
of the deceased. It does not apply to a case where there has been a fusion of interests of
the mortgagor and the mortgagee in the same person.

if a creditor (a person or entity to whom a debt is owed) passes away and the debtor (the
person or entity who owes the debt) is appointed as the administrator of the creditor's estate,
the time limit for the debtor to bring a legal action to recover the debt is suspended while the
administration of the estate continues. In other words, if the creditor dies and the debtor is
appointed to manage the creditor's estate, the debtor will not need to worry about the time
limit for bringing legal action to recover the debt expiring while the estate is being settled.
This provision is intended to allow the debtor to focus on managing the creditor's estate in a
fair and orderly manner, without the added pressure of having to worry about the time limit
for recovering the debt.

Example of the Proviso:

Suppose that a person (the creditor) is owed a debt by another person (the debtor). The
creditor passes away, and the debtor is granted letters of administration to the creditor's
estate.
Under the proviso, the time limit for bringing a legal claim to recover the debt is suspended
while the administration of the creditor's estate continues. This means that the time limit for
bringing the claim will not begin to run until the administration of the estate is completed.

For example, if the time limit for bringing a claim to recover the debt is six years, and the
administration of the creditor's estate takes three years to complete, the debtor will have an
additional three years to bring the claim once the administration is finished.

It is worth noting that this proviso only applies in situations where the creditor's estate is
being administered by the debtor. If the creditor's estate is being administered by someone
else (such as a different family member or a professional administrator), the time limit for
bringing a claim to recover the debt will not be suspended.

Exceptions to The Rule of Continuous Running of Time Under Section 9

Letters of Administration

According to the proviso to section 9, where letters of administration to the estate of a

creditor are granted to his debtor, the running of the time prescribed for a suit to recover the
debt shall be suspended, while the administration continues.

Principle Of The Proviso:

The principle of the proviso is that when the right to sue and the right to be sued vest and
unite by any act of law in the same person, the running of the time will be suspended during
such union of rights.