Nullum tempus occurrit regi
Latin: Time does not run against the king
Also called: No time runs against the Crown
Time does not run against the king. In India the maxim is not applied as such: the Limitation Act binds the Government, though it gives longer periods for certain government claims.
Explained
The maxim means that no time runs against the king. At common law it protected the Crown from the ordinary rules of limitation and prescription, so that the sovereign could enforce its rights however long it had waited. It rested on the idea that the public should not lose rights through the neglect of officers acting for the State.
Indian law does not adopt the maxim in absolute form. The Limitation Act, 1963 applies to suits by and against the Government, and Section 3 requires every suit filed after the prescribed period to be dismissed. What the law does is to give the Government longer periods in certain cases. Article 112 of the Schedule allows thirty years for any suit, other than one in the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction, by or on behalf of the Central Government or any State Government. Easements are another example: Section 25(3) of the Limitation Act and Section 15 of the Indian Easements Act, 1882 require thirty years of enjoyment, instead of twenty, where the property over which the right is claimed belongs to the Government.
The consequence is that adverse possession and prescription can run against the State, but more slowly. A trespasser on government land must show a longer period of possession before the Government's right to sue for possession is barred, and under Section 27 the right to property is extinguished only when the period for a suit for possession expires.
Examiners use the maxim to test whether the Government enjoys immunity from limitation in India. The answer is that it does not; it has extended periods under the Schedule and the easement provisions, and the general rule that limitation binds all litigants applies to it.
What the law says
(1) Where the access and use of light or air to and for any building have been peaceably enjoyed therewith as an easement, and as of right, without interruption, and for twenty years, and where any way or watercourse or the use of any water or any other easement (whether affirmative or negative) has been peaceably and openly enjoyed by any person claiming title thereto as an easement and as of right without interruption and for twenty years, the right to such access and use of light or air, way, watercourse, use of water, or other easement shall be absolute and indefeasible.
(2) Each of the said periods of twenty years shall be taken to be a period ending within two years next before the institution of the suit wherein the claim to which such period relates is contested.
(3) Where the property over which a right is claimed under sub-section (1) belongs to the Government that sub-section shall be read as if for the words “twenty years” the words “thirty years” were substituted.
Sub-section (3) prescribes 30 years for easements over government property
Where the access and use of light or air to and for any building have been peaceably enjoyed therewith, as an easement, without interruption, and for twenty years,
and where support from one person’s land or things affixed thereto has been peaceably received by another person’s land subjected to artificial pressure or by things affixed thereto as an easement, without interruption, and for twenty years,
and where a right of way or any other easement has been peaceably and openly enjoyed by any person claiming title thereto, as an easement, and as of right, without interruption, and for twenty years,
Thirty years for prescriptive easements over government property
(1) Subject to the provisions contained in sections 4 to 24 (inclusive), every suit instituted, appeal preferred, and application made after the prescribed period shall be dismissed, although limitation has not been set up as a defence.
(2) For the purposes of this Act,—
(a) a suit is instituted,—
Bar of limitation applies to all suits
At the determination of the period hereby limited to any person for instituting a suit for possession of any property, his right to such property shall be extinguished.
Extinguishment of right to property on expiry of period
For the exam
- Meaning: time does not run against the king.
- Not applied absolutely in India; the Limitation Act binds the Government.
- Article 112 of the Schedule: 30 years for suits by the Central or a State Government.
- Easement over government property needs 30 years (Section 25(3) LA, Section 15 Easements Act).
- Adverse possession can run against the State, but over the longer period.
Related terms
- Period of limitationUnder Section 2(j) of the Limitation Act, the period prescribed for a suit, appeal or application by the Schedule. In criminal law, the period in Section 514 BNSS for taking cognizance.
- Prescribed periodUnder Section 2(j) of the Limitation Act, the period of limitation computed in accordance with the Act, as distinct from the bare period fixed by the Schedule.
- Vigilantibus non dormientibus jura subveniuntThe law helps those who are vigilant about their rights, not those who sleep over them. It is the policy behind the law of limitation and the doctrine of laches.
- Rex non potest peccareThe king can do no wrong. The old English basis of Crown immunity in tort; in India the State's tortious liability is governed by Article 300, not by this maxim.
- EasementA right of the owner or occupier of land, as such, for its beneficial enjoyment, to do something, or prevent something being done, on other land not his own.
Further reading
Checked 6 November 2026. Statutory text is quoted from the Bare Acts library, taken from India Code. See the full glossary.