Separate cause of action for each delayed lease instalment means limitation runs from each default, not lease expiry.

In an instalment-based lease, interest on delayed payments was held to accrue separately for each defaulted instalment under the contract clause fixing the charging period. Limitation under Article 137 of the Limitation Act ran from the date each instalment was belatedly paid, not from expiry of the lease term, so the claim was not treated as one consolidated demand. A letter relied on as part payment did not amount to an acknowledgment of interest liability and was also outside the three-year period. Fresh calculations were directed on the basis of the petition date and the preceding three years, leaving some claims time-barred and others within time.

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Issues: Whether the claim for interest on delayed lease instalments was governed by a separate cause of action for each default and whether some of the interest claims were barred by limitation under Article 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963.

Analysis: Clause 4 of the agreement fixed the starting point and ending point for charging interest on delayed payment of each instalment. The interest for each default had to be calculated separately, and the cause of action accrued when the particular instalment was belatedly paid. Accordingly, the limitation period of three years ran from the date of each defaulted payment, not from the expiry of the lease term. The letter relied upon as part payment did not amount to an acknowledgment of interest liability, and in any event was itself outside the three-year period when the petition was filed. The Court also directed fresh calculations to be made on the basis of the petition filing date and within the preceding three years.

Conclusion: The claim was not treated as a single consolidated claim; limitation applied separately to each delayed instalment, so some claims were time-barred and some were within time.

Ratio Decidendi: In an instalment-based contract providing for interest on delay, each delayed instalment gives rise to a separate cause of action and limitation runs independently from the date of that defaulted payment.

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