Absolute indemnity liability may be enforced before payment; statutory indemnity provisions do not exhaust the law.

Sections 124 and 125 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 do not exhaust the law of indemnity, and an indemnity-holder may rely on the equitable rule requiring the indemnifier to keep him harmless from an existing, unconditional liability. Where liability incurred at the indemnifier's request has become absolute, the indemnity-holder need not wait for actual loss or for a third party to enforce a decree before suing. On the facts, the plaintiff's liability under the mortgage and further charge was not merely contingent, so the plea that the suit was premature failed and the suit was maintainable.

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Issues: Whether an indemnity-holder, whose liability has become absolute under a personal covenant given at the request of another, may maintain a suit to enforce indemnity before suffering actual loss and whether the statutory provisions on indemnity are exhaustive.

Analysis: Section 124 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 deals with a specific class of indemnity and does not exhaust the law relating to indemnity. Section 125 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 states certain rights of the indemnity-holder when sued, but it does not exclude other rights. Where liability has been incurred at the request of the indemnifier and that liability is absolute, the indemnity-holder need not wait until actual loss is suffered or until a third party obtains and enforces a decree against him. The equitable rule recognises that the indemnifier must keep the indemnified harmless from an existing and unconditional liability. On the facts, the plaintiff had undertaken personal liability under the mortgage and further charge, so the liability was not merely contingent. The contention that the suit was premature was therefore not accepted.

Conclusion: The suit was maintainable. The plaintiff was entitled to be indemnified against liability under the mortgage and further charge before actual loss was paid, and the statutory provisions did not bar such relief.

Ratio Decidendi: An indemnity-holder may sue to enforce indemnity once the liability has become absolute, even before actual payment of the loss, and Sections 124 and 125 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 do not exhaust the law of indemnity.

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