Usufructuary mortgage redemption: Article 137 does not bar a final decree application merely for delayed deposit of the mortgage money.

In a suit for redemption of a usufructuary mortgage, the mortgagor's statutory right of redemption under Section 60 of the Transfer of Property Act continues so long as the mortgage subsists and is not extinguished merely because the redemption amount was not deposited within the time fixed in the preliminary decree. Order XXXIV, Rule 8 CPC preserves the mortgagor's ability to seek a final decree, and Article 137 of the Limitation Act does not bar such an application on that ground alone. The Court distinguished authorities concerning other kinds of mortgage and treated earlier observations suggesting a three-year bar as inapplicable to usufructuary mortgages.

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Issues: Whether an application for preparation of a final decree in a suit for redemption of a usufructuary mortgage is governed by Article 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963 and becomes barred three years after the date fixed in the preliminary decree, or whether the mortgagor's right to seek final decree continues until deposit of the mortgage money.

Analysis: The right of redemption under Section 60 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 is a statutory right that subsists so long as the mortgage itself subsists and is extinguished only by act of parties or by decree of court. In a usufructuary mortgage, Order XXXIV, Rule 8 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 preserves the mortgagor's ability to seek a final decree, and the mortgagee has no corresponding right to seek foreclosure in the same manner as in other mortgages. The Court distinguished cases dealing with other forms of mortgage and held that the reasoning in those decisions could not be applied to a usufructuary mortgage. The earlier observations suggesting that the application must be made within three years from the date fixed in the preliminary decree were treated as not laying down the correct law for such mortgages.

Conclusion: Article 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963 does not bar an application for final decree in a usufructuary mortgage redemption suit merely because the amount was not deposited within the time fixed by the preliminary decree; the right to redeem remains enforceable until extinguished in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: In a suit for redemption of a usufructuary mortgage, the mortgagor's statutory right of redemption continues until it is validly extinguished, and delay in depositing the redemption amount does not by itself attract the residuary limitation under Article 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963.

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