Section 6 explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
Section 6 protects a person who is under a legal disability when the time to sue or to apply for execution of a decree starts. Instead of losing the period while the disability lasts, the person gets the same period after the disability ceases. The section also deals with two disabilities, with death during disability, and with a legal representative who is under a disability.
This article follows the consolidated text of the Act consulted (latest amendment shown: Act 46 of 1999). Later amendments should be checked before you rely on it.
If a person entitled to sue or to apply for execution of a decree is, at the time from which the period is to be reckoned, a minor or under another listed disability, the person may sue or apply within the same period after the disability has ceased. Where the disability lasts until death, the legal representative gets the period from the death. Section 6 applies to a suit or an application for execution only.
Section 6(1): the basic rule
Section 6(1) says: where a person entitled to institute a suit or make an application for the execution of a decree is, at the time from which the prescribed period is to be reckoned, "a minor or insane, or an idiot", he may institute the suit or make the application within the same period after the disability has ceased, as would otherwise have been allowed from the time specified therefor in the third column of the Schedule.
The Act's own words "insane" and "idiot" are quoted here once as the Act prints them. Written plainly, the section covers a minor and a person of unsound mind, and the print has not been updated for newer terms, so check the current law for the corresponding language.
Several features of the sub-section need attention:
- It applies to suits and to applications for execution of a decree. Those are the two proceedings it names. It does not mention appeals or other applications.
- The disability must exist at the starting point. The test is the disability "at the time from which the prescribed period is to be reckoned". That is the date in the third column of the Schedule for the relevant Article.
- The period given is the same period. The person does not receive an extra period; the same period is simply counted from the end of the disability.
A date illustration with invented facts: Riya is entitled to sue on a claim for which the Schedule gives three years from a date when she is a minor. She attains majority on 5 April 2025. Under section 6(1) she may sue within three years after that date, that is, up to 5 April 2028 (with the first day excluded under section 12(1)). Her period is counted from the end of the disability, not from the date in the third column.
If a family claim involving a minor or a person under disability is close to a deadline, a legal consultation can help you place the starting point correctly.
Section 6(2): two disabilities
Section 6(2) covers two situations:
- Where the person is, at the starting time, affected by two such disabilities; or
- Where, before his disability has ceased, he is affected by another disability.
In either case he may institute the suit or make the application within the same period after both disabilities have ceased. The period is counted from the end of the last of them, not from the end of the first.
Section 6(3): disability continuing till death
Where the disability continues up to the death of the person, his legal representative may institute the suit or make the application within the same period after the death, as would otherwise have been allowed from the time specified in the Schedule.
So death during disability does not wipe out the claim. The legal representative's period starts at the death.
Section 6(4): a legal representative who is also under disability
Where the legal representative referred to in sub-section (3) is, at the date of the death of the person whom he represents, affected by any such disability, "the rules contained sub-sections (1) and (2) shall apply". The text as printed omits the word "in" between "contained" and "sub-sections". This article quotes it as printed and does not alter it. The meaning is that the rules in sub-sections (1) and (2) apply to such a legal representative.
Section 6(5): death after the disability has ceased
Where a person under disability dies after the disability ceases but within the period allowed to him under this section, his legal representative may institute the suit or make the application within the same period after the death, as would otherwise have been available to that person had he not died.
The table below puts the five sub-sections side by side.
| Sub-section | Situation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 6(1) | Minor or person of unsound mind at the starting point | Same period after the disability ceases |
| 6(2) | Two disabilities, or a further disability before the first ceases | Same period after both disabilities have ceased |
| 6(3) | Disability lasts until death | Legal representative gets the same period after the death |
| 6(4) | Legal representative is under disability at the date of death | Rules of sub-sections (1) and (2) apply |
| 6(5) | Person dies after disability ceases but within the period allowed | Legal representative gets the same period after the death |
The Explanation: child in the womb
The Explanation says that for the purposes of section 6, "minor" includes a child in the womb. The print shows odd quotation marks round "minor"; this is a typesetting feature of the text, not a different rule.
What section 6 does not do
- It does not extend the three-year cap in other sections. Section 8 says nothing in section 6 or 7 applies to suits to enforce rights of pre-emption, or extends for more than three years from the cessation of the disability or the death of the person affected the period of limitation for any suit or application. See sections 7 to 9.
- It does not stop time that has already begun. Under section 9, where time has once begun to run, no later disability or inability to sue stops it, apart from the proviso on letters of administration granted to the debtor.
- It speaks only of disability at the starting time. A disability arising later is covered only through the two-disability rule in section 6(2).
Section 29(2) lets a special or local law fix its own period, so never apply a Schedule period to a proceeding under a tax, insolvency, company, arbitration, consumer, MSME or cheque dishonour law. Check whether that law excludes sections 4 to 24 before relying on section 6.
For general civil procedure on how a suit is brought, see suits, parties and cause of action under the CPC.
Need help with a claim involving a minor?
Where a claim belongs to a minor or to someone under a disability, the dates need to be set out carefully before anything is filed. You can talk to us through a legal consultation and we will help you read the Schedule's starting point together with this section.
Key takeaways
- Section 6 applies to suits and to applications for execution of a decree.
- The disability must exist at the time from which the prescribed period is to be reckoned.
- The person gets the same period after the disability ceases.
- With two disabilities, the period runs from the end of both.
- If the disability lasts until death, the legal representative gets the period from the death.
- "Minor" includes a child in the womb.
- A special or local law may fix a different period (section 29(2)).
Read next
- Sections 7–9: disability of one of several persons, three-year cap and continuous running of time
- Section 16: effect of death before the right to sue accrues
- Sections 3–4: bar of limitation and court closed on the last day
- Execution petition: decree enforcement procedure
Disclaimer: Based on a consolidated text of the Limitation Act, 1963 and its Schedule whose latest amendment shown is Act 46 of 1999, as consulted on 2 October 2026. A special or local law may fix a different period; later amendments and the current procedural law should be checked. This article is general information, not legal advice; check the official text before acting.