Whether e-mail/s acknowledging the debt would constitute a valid and legal acknowledgement of debt though not signed as required under Section 18 of the Limitation Act?
A harmonious reading of Section 4 together with definition clauses as extracted hereinabove would indicate that on account of digital and new communication systems having taken giant steps and the business community as well as individuals are undisputedly using computers to create, transmit and store information in the electronic form rather than using the traditional paper documents and as such the information so generated, transmitted and received are to be construed as meeting the requirement of section 18 of the Limitation Act, particularly in view of the fact that section 4 contains a non obstante clause. Since respondent does not dispute the information transmitted by it is in electronic form to the petitioner by way of message through the use of computer and its network as not having been sent by it to the petitioner, the acknowledgement as found in the e-mails dated 14.01.2010 and 06.04.2010 originating from the respondent to the addressee namely, petitioner, such e-mails have to be construed and read as a due and proper acknowledgement and it would meet the parameters laid down under section 18 of the Limitation Act, 1963 to constitute a valid and legal acknowledgement of debt due.
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