Limitation and mortgage transfers: a mortgagor's later acknowledgment cannot bind the purchaser of the equity of redemption.

A mortgagor who has completely parted with all interest in the mortgaged property cannot extend limitation against the purchaser of the equity of redemption by later acknowledgment of liability or part payment. Sections 19 and 20 of the Limitation Act operate only where the acknowledgment or payment is made by a person still liable to pay the debt or otherwise capable of binding the transferee through derived title or liability. Once the mortgagor's personal remedy is barred and his interest has been transferred, his subsequent act does not affect the transferee's protection under limitation. The mortgage suit was therefore time-barred, and the appellate decree rejecting the claim was sustained.

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Issues: Whether a mortgagor who has already parted with all interest in the mortgaged property can, by a subsequent acknowledgment of liability or part payment of interest, extend limitation against the purchaser of the equity of redemption.

Analysis: Sections 19 and 20 of the Limitation Act permit a fresh period of limitation only where the acknowledgment or payment is made by the party against whom the right is claimed, or by a person who is still liable to pay the debt or is otherwise capable of binding the transferee through the derivation of title or liability. Once the mortgagor has lost all interest in the property and the personal remedy has become barred, he is no longer a person liable to pay within the meaning of the section, and his later acknowledgment or payment cannot operate against the purchaser of the equity of redemption. The principle was held to be consistent with the corresponding English provisions and with the view that a post-transfer acknowledgment cannot deprive a subsequent transferee of the statutory protection of limitation.

Conclusion: A subsequent acknowledgment or part payment by a mortgagor after divesting himself of all interest does not save limitation against the purchaser of the equity of redemption; the appeal failed.

Final Conclusion: The suit on the mortgage was held to be time-barred, and the decree of the appellate court rejecting the claim was sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: Acknowledgment of liability or part payment extends limitation against a transferee only if made by a person who is still liable or whose title or liability is derived after the acknowledgment or payment; once the mortgagor has completely parted with interest, his subsequent act cannot bind the transferee.

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