Limitation bar on appeal and Article 132 governing foreclosure by conditional sale led to the suit being time-barred.

Where the bar of limitation is apparent on the pleadings or record, an appellate court must give effect to it even if the plea was not raised earlier, and leave may be granted to argue the point on appeal. A foreclosure suit by conditional sale is governed by Article 132 of the second schedule to the Limitation Act, not Article 147. Applying that rule, a suit filed more than twelve years after the due date, without proof of any payment saving limitation, was time-barred. The dissenting view was that the limitation objection should not have been entertained at that stage and that the procedural provisions of the Code should have prevailed.

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Issues: Whether the plea of limitation could be entertained for the first time at the appellate stage and, if so, whether the foreclosure suit was barred by limitation under the applicable article of the Limitation Act.

Analysis: The majority held that the bar of limitation could be raised in appeal where it appeared on the face of the record, and that the appellate court was bound to give effect to the statutory rule of limitation. It further held that the plea of limitation had not been effectively excluded by the procedural objection under the Code of Civil Procedure, and that leave could properly be granted to raise the point. On the merits, the suit for foreclosure of a mortgage by conditional sale was governed by Article 132 of the second schedule to the Limitation Act and not Article 147. As the suit was instituted more than twelve years after the due date, and the alleged payment relied on to save limitation was not proved, the claim was barred.

Conclusion: The plea of limitation was allowed, the suit was held to be time-barred, and the appeal succeeded.

Dissenting Opinion: One Judge held that the limitation objection should not have been permitted at that stage, that the procedural provisions of the Code controlled the objection, and that the merits of the reference should have been decided.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the bar of limitation is apparent on the pleadings or record, an appellate court must apply it notwithstanding the absence of an earlier plea, and a foreclosure suit by conditional sale is governed by Article 132 of the second schedule to the Limitation Act.

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