Specific performance of a contract:
how long do you have?
Last reviewed: 2026-08-19 · quoted from the India Code bare-Act PDF
The date fixed for the performance, or, if no such date is fixed, when the plaintiff has notice that performance is refused.
The Schedule row, as the Act prints it
Article 54Description: For specific performance of a contract.
Period: Three years.
Time from which period begins to run: The date fixed for the performance, or, if no such date is fixed, when the plaintiff has notice that performance is refused.
Open the bare Act on India Code →
In plain English
The agreement-to-sell article. If the contract fixes a performance date, three years run from that date; if not, from when the plaintiff has notice that the other side refuses to perform. Buyers who sit on agreements for years lose the remedy even if they were always 'ready and willing'.
Where this comes up
- Agreement to sell land with a registration date the seller ignored
- Open-ended sale agreement where the seller later refuses to execute the deed
- Builder-buyer agreement where conveyance was promised but never executed
What can reset or extend this period
General rules for entries in the Suits division. The full statutory quotes (ss.5, 12, 18-19, 6-8) are on the finder page.
No condonation — ever
Section 5 applies only to appeals and applications, never to suits. A time-barred suit must be dismissed under s.3 'although limitation has not been set up as a defence'. There is no discretionary mercy for suits.
Acknowledgment and part-payment reset the clock
A written acknowledgment of liability signed by the party (s.18), or a part-payment acknowledged in the payer's handwriting or signed writing (s.19), gives a fresh period — but only if made BEFORE the current period expires. An acknowledgment of an already-barred debt creates no fresh period under this Act.
Computation exclusions
s.12(1) excludes the first day; s.4 lets you file on the reopening day if the period expires while the court is closed; s.14 excludes time spent prosecuting in good faith in a court without jurisdiction; s.15 excludes stay/injunction periods and statutory-notice time; s.17 postpones the start until discovery in cases of fraud, concealment or mistake. But s.9: once time begins to run, no subsequent disability stops it.
Legal disability
If the person entitled to sue is a minor or of unsound mind when the period would start, ss.6-7 let them sue within the same period after the disability ceases — capped by s.8 at three years from cessation, and denied entirely to pre-emption suits (Article 97).
Frequently asked
No date was fixed in our agreement — when does time start?
From the date you have notice that performance is refused. A clear written refusal, or conduct unambiguously refusing performance, starts the three years.
We kept negotiating after the fixed date passed. Does that stop limitation?
No. Once the date fixed for performance passes, the three years run; continued talks do not stop the clock, though a fresh signed agreement or acknowledgment can create a new starting point.
Can I still get my advance back if specific performance is time-barred?
A refund claim may lie under Article 47 (three years from failure of consideration) or Article 55/24 depending on facts — its clock can start later than the Article 54 clock.
This is a reference to the statutory text, not advice on a live matter. Limitation is brutally fact-sensitive — when the cause of action accrued, whether an acknowledgment or part-payment reset the clock, and which exclusions under ss.4-15 apply all turn on your specific facts. This page is a reference to the statutory text, not advice on a live matter, and it does not create an advocate-client relationship. A single day's error can be fatal to a claim: s.5 condonation never applies to suits, and several special-statute deadlines (Arbitration s.34(3), IBC s.61(2)) are hard ceilings no court can extend. Verify every period against the bare Act as currently amended and against current case law, and take advice on your own facts before acting. Provisions here were reviewed on 19 August 2026.