Suit For Damages Arising Out Of Tortious Injury Barred By Limitation If Not Filed Within One Year: Punjab & Haryana High Court

"As per Article 72 of Limitation Act, the suit for damages is to be filed within one year from the date, when the act or omission takes place." Punjab and Haryana High Court, in a recent ruling, affirmed that a civil suit seeking compensation or damages for physical injuries sustained in a criminal assault is governed strictly by Article 72 of the Limitation Act, 1963, which prescribes a one-year limitation period from the date of the occurrence.

A single bench of Justice Harsh Bunger held that any delay in instituting a civil suit cannot be condoned under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, thereby dismissing a regular second appeal filed by an assault victim who approached the civil court nearly six years after the incident.

The appellant had instituted a civil suit for compensation and damages on account of physical injuries, economic loss, and mental torture arising out of an assault on November 12, 2009, over a boundary dispute, for which the respondents were previously convicted under Sections 323, 325, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code. The trial court and the first appellate court concurrently dismissed the suit as hopelessly barred by limitation, prompting the appellant to approach the High Court in a regular second appeal.

The primary legal issue before the High Court was whether a civil suit for compensation and damages arising from criminal injuries is governed by the one-year limitation period under Article 72 of the Limitation Act, 1963, and whether such delay in filing a suit could be condoned.

Article 72 Governs Suits For Tortious Acts And Criminal Trespass

The High Court observed that when a claimant seeks compensation on account of bodily harm or damages arising out of criminal acts, the cause of action accrues on the exact date of the assault. The bench noted that suits of this nature clearly fall within Part VII of the Limitation Act, which specifically governs actions founded on torts.

"Indeed, the suit for recovery of compensation in respect of injuries suffered by the plaintiff on account of criminal trespass would be governed by Article 72 of the Limiation Act, which provides that the suit for damages is to be filed within one year from the date when the act or omission takes place."

Delay In Instituting Civil Suits Cannot Be Condoned Under Section 5

Addressing the maintainability of the claim instituted long after the statutory deadline, the court reaffirmed the well-settled principle that Section 5 of the Limitation Act applies only to appeals and applications, and has no application to original suits. The bench placed reliance on the precedent in Mohinder Singh v. Hakim Singh and others (2016), reiterating that there is no statutory leeway to condone delay in filing a primary suit beyond the prescribed one-year window under Article 72.

"It is settled proposition of law that the delay in filing the suit cannot be condoned under Section 5 of Limitation Act."

Suit Instituted After Five Years Is Hopelessly Time-Barred

Evaluating the facts, the court underscored that the incident took place on November 12, 2009, causing injuries to the plaintiff on that very day, yet the suit for compensation was instituted only on November 1, 2015, after a lapse of nearly six years. The bench noted that the trial court and the first appellate court committed no illegality or perversity in dismissing the suit purely on the threshold bar of limitation without entering into the merits of the compensation claimed.

"Thus, it is clear that the suit filed by the plaintiff after one year from the date of occurrence, is clearly time barred and no fault can be found with the impugned judgments and decrees passed by the learned Courts below on that account."

Finding no infirmity or substantial question of law in the concurrent decrees of the courts below, the High Court dismissed the regular second appeal. The ruling reinforces the strict statutory mandate of Article 72, clarifying that victims seeking civil tort damages must initiate litigation within one year of the tortious act regardless of concurrent criminal proceedings.

Date of Decision: 20 August 2026