Repealed or not in force · As amended up to 2026-08
20. a. No promise or acknowledgment in respect of a debt or legacy shall take the case out of the operation of this Act, unless such promise or acknowledgment is contained in some writing signed, before the expiration of the prescribed period; by the party to be charged therewith or by his agent generally or specially authorized in this behalf.
b. When such writing exists, a new period of limitation, according to the nature of the original liability, shall be computed from the time when the promise or acknowledgment was signed.
c. When the writing containing the promise or acknowledgment is undated, oral evidence may be given of the time when it was signed. But when it is alleged to have been destroyed or lost, oral evidence of its contents shall not be received.
Explanation 1.—For the purposes of this section, a promise or acknowledgment may be sufficient, though it omits to specify the exact amount of the debt or legacy, or avers that the time for payment or delivery has not yet come, or is accompanied by a refusal to pay or deliver, or is coupled with a claim to a set-off, or is addressed to any person other than the creditor or legatee;
but it must amount to an express undertaking to pay or deliver the debt or legacy or to an unqualified admission of the liability as subsisting.
Explanation
Effect of acknowledgment in writing.
166 Limitation. [ACT IX'
Explanation 2.—Nothing in this section renders one of several partners or executors chargeable by reason only of a written promise or acknowledgment signed by another of them.
Illustrations.
Z, a bond-debtor, himself writes a letter promising to pay the debt to his creditor A. Z affixes his seal, but does not sign the letter:
Z pays part of the debt and promises orally to pay the rest:
Z publishes an advertisement, requesting his creditors to bring in their claims for examination:
In none of these cases is the debt taken out of the operation of this Act.
Effect of payment of interest as such.
Source: India Code