Article 14: (Art. 52 of the Act of 1908):
The period of limitation for a suit for the price of goods sold and delivered where no fixed period of credit is agreed upon is three years and the time of limitation begins to run from the date of the delivery of the goods.
Image Source: i.huffpost.com
ADVERTISEMENTS:
A suit to recover price of goods supplied on credit, for which payments were to be made on presentation of the bill, is governed by the Article 14.
In Nainital Hotel Co. v. Municipal Board, Nainital, (AIR 1946 All. 502), it has been held that electric energy is ‘movable property’ and therefore ‘goods’ within the meaning of Section 14. So a claim for electric charge for more than three years is barred under Article 14.
A suit to recover the balance of the price of a motor car falls under this Article 14.
The starting point of limitation is the date of delivery of goods. When goods are delivered on different dates each of the date of delivery shall be the starting point of limitation for suit under Article 14 and not the last delivery. In Nurul Hasan v. R.S. Mishra, (ILR (1966) 2 All. 382), it has been held that each delivery of goods gives rise to an independent cause of action to recover the price therefore under Art. 14 and not the claim with respect to delivery which took place more than three years before the filing of the suit which is barred by limitation.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
In Cotton Corporation of India v. Alagappa Cotton Mills, (AIR 2001 Bom. 429), it has been held that in a suit for breach of contact of sale of goods, the suit for compensation filed by the seller against the purchaser for denying the liability to take delivery of the goods Art. 14 of the Limitation Act is attracted and the suit filed within three years of the denial of the liability by the purchaser is within time.