In Brief
A company sued to recover a loan of Rs 1,11,63,633 from a respondent, alleging it was advanced in 2012–13 and repayable within one year of the last payment. The respondent denied the loan and claimed the payments were commission for real estate services. The trial court dismissed the suit as time-barred under the Limitation Act, deciding the limitation issue as a preliminary matter on oral arguments alone. The High Court upheld this. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, holding that where the facts underlying a limitation claim are disputed—here, whether the transaction was a loan or commission, and the contract terms—the limitation issue cannot be decided as a preliminary matter and must be tried along with other issues, with evidence adduced by the parties."}
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