VALMIKI J.MEHTA, J

1. Whether time barred claims or claims which are barred by limitation, can be said to be live claims, which can be referred to arbitration, is the issue which calls for decision in the present cases. It is not disputed by either of the parties that the period of limitation for filing of a petition is three years from when the cause of action arises. The moot question however is, when can the cause of action be said to have arisen for the purpose of limitation to have commenced. Since the facts of the two cases are more or less similar, reference is being made only to the facts of the Arb. P. No.253/09 for the purpose of discussion.

2. The two Articles of the Limitation Act 1963 which are relevant in this regard are Articles 18 and 137 and the said Articles read as under:-

18. For the price of work done by the Plaintiff for the defendant at his Three years When the work is request, where no time has been done. fixed for payment.

137.Any other application for which No period of limitation is provided Three years When the right to apply elsewhere in this division accrues.

3. Accruing of cause of action, necessarily will vary with the facts of each case. What I mean to say, is that, disputes arise under various facts and circumstances and various types of contracts. A cause of action may accrue in one type of contract, such as sale of goods, on a particular date whereas in another type of contract which is a contract for construction work, the cause of action may accrue on a different date and so on. It is thus trite that arising of cause of action is necessarily to be linked with the peculiar facts and circumstances of each case. I make this preliminary statement because the observations in this judgment are in the context of a contract of construction work which was entered into between the parties.

4. The petitioner was awarded by the respondent the work of improvement of drain and road by pdg. C.C.pavement from H.No. F-94 to F-208 in Samaspur Road Pandev Nagar in AC-38/69 Sh-S Zone. This work was awarded to the petitioner vide Work Order No.37 dated 5.11.2004. The stipulated date of completion of the work was three months, with the commencement date for beginning of the three months period being the 11th day after placing of the Work Order. It is an admitted fact in this case, that the work in question was completed within the contractually stipulated period i.e. by 14.2.05.

5. At this stage, to understand and decide the controversy with regard to limitation, it is necessary to reproduce certain agreed terms/conditions/clauses in the contract between the parties. These relevant clauses are Clause-6, Clause-7, Clause-8, Clause-9 and Clause-25. These Clauses are reproduced hereunder:-

“CLAUSE-6

Measurement of Work Done

Engineer-in-Charge shall, except as otherwise provided ascertain and determine by measurement the value in accordance with the contract of work done. All measurement of all items having financial value shall be entered in Measurement Book and/or level field book so that a complete record is obtained of all performed under the contract. All measurements and level shall be taken jointly by the Engineer-in-Charge or his authorised representative and by the contractor or his authorised representative from time to time during the progress of the work and such measurements shall be signed and dated by the Engineer-in-Charge and the contractor or their representatives in token of their acceptance. If the contractor objects to any of the measurements recorded, a note shall be made to that effect with reason and signed by both the parties. If for any reason the contractor or his authorised representative is not available and the work of recording measurements is suspended by the Engineer-in-Charge or his representative, the Engineer-in-Charge and the Department shall not entertain any claim representative does not remain present at the time of such measurements afte