The main legal point established in the judgment is that the suit filed beyond the limitation period as per Article 19 of the Limitation Act, 1963, for seeking recovery of a loan where no time period is prescribed for the return thereof is barred by limitation.

JUDGMENT

Navin Chawla, J. (Oral)

I.A. 12331/2021

1. This application has been filed by the defendant under Order VII rule 11 (a) and (d) of the Code of the Civil Procedure, 1908 praying for the rejection of the plaint, contending that the suit is barred by limitation.

2. The plaintiffs have filed the present suit seeking recovery of a sum of Rs.2,54,73,584/- (Rupees Two Crore Fifty Four Lakhs Seventy Three Thousand Five Hundred and Eighty Four only) alongwith interest of Rs.54,70,888.36/- (Fifty Four Lakh Seventy Thousand Eight Hundred and Eighty Eight and Thirty Six Paise only) from 28.05.2018 to the date of filing of the suit, and further praying for pendente lite and future interest at the rate of 9% per annum from the defendant.

3. It is the case of the plaintiffs that the plaintiff no.1 and defendant are first cousins, the father of the plaintiff no.1 and the father of the defendant being real brothers. The plaintiff no.1 had shifted to the United States of America in the early 1980s and has been residing there for more than 30 years. Since he owned a large number of properties in Delhi, having implicit trust and faith in the defendant due to their relationship, the plaintiff no.1 executed a Power of Attorney in favour of the defendant on 21.07.1998 for managing the properties located in Delhi, including his various Bank Accounts. The said Power of Attorney dated 21.07.1998 was revoked by the plaintiff no.1 vide his letter dated 28.05.2018. After revoking the Power of Attorney, the plaintiff no.1 started reviewing and scrutinizing all his bank statements/bank accounts and noticed that the defendant had over a period of time, withdrawn a sum of Rs.3,70,19,310/- (Rupees Three Crore Seventy Lakhs Nineteen Thousand Three Hundred Ten only) from various Bank Accounts. The plaintiffs give the details of the withdrawals in paragraph 9 of the plaint under the heading "Loan taken by A.B. Mittra from Dev Ranjan Mittra (HUF)" and "Loan taken by A.B. Mittra from Dev Ranjan Mittra (Individual). The plaintiffs then claim that out of the total borrowed sum of Rs.3,70,19,310/- (Rupees Three Crore Seventy Lakhs Nineteen Thousand Three Hundred Ten only), the defendant repaid only an amount of Rs.1,15,34,726/- (Rupees One Crore Fifteen Lakhs Thirty Four Thousand Seven Hundred and Twenty Six only), account of which is given in paragraph 10 of the plaint with the heading "Loan Paid Back by A.B. Mittra to Dev Ranjan Mitra (Individual)" and "Loan Paid Back by A.B. Mittra to Dev Ranjan Mittra (HUF)". The plaintiffs claim that in this manner, the defendant owes a sum of Rs.2,54,73,584/- (Rupees Two Crore Fifty Four Lakhs Seventy Three Thousand Five Eighty Four only) to the plaintiffs, which the plaintiffs claimed from the defendant vide e-mail dated 28.05.2018 and subsequent letter dated 13.07.2020.

4. The plaintiffs allege the cause of action for filing of the plaint as under:

"18. Thus, in view of the above, the Defendant owes an amount of Rs.2,54,73,584/- (Rupees Two Crores Fifty Four Lacs Seventy Three Thousand Five Hundred Eighty Four Only) to the Plaintiffs on account of loan taken by him over a period of 2010 to 2015. The Defendant despite repeated requests and reminders has failed to repay the said amount to the Plaintiffs and therefore, the present suit has necessitated to be filed.

19. That the present suit seeks to recover debt, being in the nature of a loans/borrowings taken by the Defendant for his personal use in an unauthorized manner and without the knowledge of the Plaintiffs on the basis of the Power of Attorney dated 21.07.1998.

20. The cause of action arose in favour of the Plaintiffs and against the Defendant on 21.07.1998 when the Plaintiff No. 1 executed a Power of Attorney in favour of the Defendant. The cause of action thereafter arose on 28.06.2010, 16.07.2010, 08.12.2011, 28.07.2012, 25.09.2012, 07.11.2012, 14.11.2012, 01.08.2013, 21.12.2013, 04.10.2014 and 13.03.2015 when the Defendant took loan from the Plaintiffs. The