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WALI MUHAMMAD KHAN, J.--- Investment Corporation of Pakistan, appellant herein, sued Syed Jamaat Ali Shah and Begum Jamaat Ali Shah, defendants/respondents herein for the recovery of Rs.19,26,878.26. The detail of the claim is narrated in the plaint as well as the judgments of the lower forums and need not be reiterated as the High Court (first appellate Court) has decided the appeal on the point of limitation alone. The suit was contested, necessary issues in the case were framed and the learned trial Judge, vide his judgment and decree, dated 24 -6-1986, decreed the suit of the plaintiff/appellant, but on appeal the same was reversed by the High Court vide judgment and decree, dated 20-3-1989. The instant appeal was filed in this Court which, as per report of the office, is barred by 30 days. The learned counsel for the appellant relying on the judgment of this Court in the case of Sardar Abdur Rauf Khan and others v. The Land Acquisition Collector/Deputy Commissioner, Abbottabad and others 1991 SCMR 2164 submitted that the same may be treated as petition for leave to appeal. The learned counsel for the respondents was heard in this respect. Following the cited judgment, we convert the appeal into petition for leave to appeal and grant leave as important question of limitation is involved.

We have heard the learned counsel for the parties on the merits of the case and have perused the record of the case. Both the learned counsel restricted their arguments to the finding of the lower two forums on issue No.2 relating to limitation. According to the terms of the agreement, dated 11-12-1968, the. defendants were to deposit the sale price with Investment Corporation of Pakistan on 13-3-1973 but they did not comply their contractual obligation and neither paid the agreed minimum dividend nor deposited the sale price of the said 99,394 shares in spite of repeated reminders, notices, etc. The plaintiff/appellant, consequently, initiated proceedings in the Court of Collector, Lahore District for the recovery of its dues under section 31 of the Investment Corporation of Pakistan Ordinance IV of 1966. The defendants instituted a suit on 9-10-1973 in the Court of Senior Civil Judge, Lahore against the plaintiff, Tehsildar Lahore, and the Collector, Lahore District praying that they be restrained from demanding, claiming receiving any amount from the defendants and that they be restrained from taking any coercive steps for the realisation of the aforesaid amount, and for quashing the warrants issued by them. An ad interim injunction was secured by them from the Court concerned regarding maintenance of status quo. The defendants withdrew from the suit on 31-7-1974. The plaintiff specifically claimed exemption under sections 14 and 15 of the Limitation Act in para. 16 of the plaint which prevailed with the learned trial Judge, but the appellate Court in its impugned judgment did not concur with him on the ground that section 14 was not attracted because the Revenue Officer conducting the proceedings for the recovery of dues was not a Court and section 15 was inapplicable because the injunction passed by the Court directed only stoppage of the recovery rather than institution of the suit.