In Brief
A property dispute spanning six decades reached the Supreme Court when a trial court rejected an application to determine mesne profits (rent value during possession deprivation) in a case originally decided in 1973. The High Court upheld this rejection, citing delay. The Supreme Court disagreed, holding that mesne profits proceedings form part of completing the original suit's judgment, not a fresh case. When no specific time limit is fixed by law, courts cannot impose one. Since the original decree itself directed this inquiry, filing the application decades later did not bar it from being completed. The petition was dismissed, allowing the trial court to proceed with determining the mesne profits owed.
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