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N Asha Devi v. R Aravind Kumar

Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 908Decided 17 Aug 2026
Civil Appeal No.11194 of 2026 (arising out of SLP(C) No.23279 of 2025)
Justice J.B. Pardiwala · Justice K. Vinod Chandran

Background

The appellant, a property owner, had entered into Joint Venture Agreements in 2014 with the respondent for construction of flats, under which the respondent was to receive a 44% undivided share once construction was completed. The appellant later cancelled the agreement in April 2016, citing delay, which the respondent disputed through a series of legal notices. The respondent eventually filed a civil suit only in October 2022 seeking division and allotment of the 44% share; the appellant sought rejection of the plaint as time-barred, which both the Trial Court and the High Court refused.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that under the well-settled principle that an Order VII Rule 11 application must be decided purely on the averments in the plaint, the plaint's own paragraph 17 showed the cause of action arose on 20.04.2016 (the cancellation notice), with the last related communication on 22.11.2016, yet the suit was filed only in October 2022, several years beyond the limitation period. The Court rejected the respondent's argument that a 2022 public notice cautioning third-party buyers created a fresh cause of action, holding it was a self-serving act that could not revive a already time-barred claim. The Court therefore set aside the orders of both lower courts and rejected the plaint itself.

Lesson Learnt

If a plaint's own averments show a claim is filed years after limitation expired, courts can and should reject it at the threshold: a party cannot manufacture a fresh limitation period through its own later, self-interested actions.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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