The main legal point established in the judgment is the interpretation and application of Article 75 of the Limitation Act in determining the limitation period for suits on promissory note or bond payable by instalments.

Madhavan Nair, J.

1. Defendants 1 to 12 are the appellants. The suit is upon a bond executed by one Koyathi predecessor of defendants 1 to 12 in favour of plaintiffs 2 and 3. The third plaintiff in the suit has been transposed as the thirteenth defendant.

2. The question for decision in the second appeal is whether the plaintiffs suit is barred by limitation.

3. The bond was executed by Koyathi in connection with a chit fund in which he held a ticket. After obtaining his amount at the auction he entered into the suit bond Ex. A which refers to his obligation to pay the various instalments that would be due from him on various future dates. Then it says towards the end of the document:

If at any auction the amount therefore is not paid and default is made therein the amount that should be subscribed thereto as the balance left after deducting the dividend therein, would be paid within a month with profit thereon at 2 per cent, per month, and if default is made therein also, all the amounts that are seen to be paid in future after excluding those that have been paid till then, would be paid with profit thereon at 2 per cent, per month dividend, interest or due date.

4. It has been found by the lower Courts that default occurred on the 23rd May, 1922. Koyatti did not pay the amount due on that date. Default having occurred on that date according to the terms of the document the entire amount due by him became payable on the 23rd June, 1922. The present suit was filed on the 3rd January, 1927. It is argued by the (plaintiffs) that having regard to Article 75 of the Limitation Act the suit is barred by limitation. Article 75 deals with suits on promissory note or bond payable by instalments, which provides that if default be made in payment of one or more instalments the whole shall be due. According to column 3 the period of 3 years mentioned in column 2 will run from the time "when default is made unless where the payee or obligee waives the benefit of the provisions and then when fresh default is made in respect of which there is no such waiver". Obviously according to this article unless waiver by the plaintiff is pleaded by the defendant time will start from the date when the default is made. In this case that date is 23rd June, 1922 and under Article 75 the suit is clearly barred by limitation having been brought more than 3 years after that date.

5. Mr. Kutti Krishna Menon for the appellant argues that the provision that the entire amount will become due when default is made is a provision in favour of the creditor and he is at liberty to waive it and the cause of action arises at the end of each period when the money becomes due and if so, the suit is not barred by limitation. For the purposes of this argument the plea of waiver need not be referred to. This question is whether on the words of Article 75 this argument can be accepted. No decision directly bearing on the question has been brought to my notice. The decisions under Article 132 of the Limitation Act which deals with suits on mortgage bonds in which Limitation is calculated from the time "when the money sued for becomes due" as mentioned in the 3rd column of that article have no relevancy having regard to the fact that Article 75 is not applicable to a suit on a mortgage bond. It is therefore unnecessary to refer to the various cases brought to my notice but the decision in Lasa Din v. Mt. Gulab Kunwar (1932) L.R. 59 IndAp 376; I.L.R. 7 Luck. 442 : 63 M.L.J. 187 may be referred to with advantage though that was a case which related to Article 132 of the Limitation Act. In the course of that judgment their Lordships of the Privy Council referred to a decision of the English Court Reeves v. Butcher (1891) 2 Q.B. 509. That was a suit where also there was a provision that if money was not paid at the end of a particular quarterly instalment the entire amount would fall due. Now, that decision was brought to their Lordships notice with respect of the argument that