Indian Contract Act, 1872 · Chapter IV: Of the Performance of Contracts · Appropriation of payments
Section 61: Application of payment where neither party appropriates
Where neither party makes any appropriation, the payment shall be applied in discharge of the debts in order of time, whether they are or are not barred by the law in force for the time being as to the limitation of suits. If the debts are of equal standing, the payment shall be applied in discharge of each proportionally.
Source: India Code (indiacode.gov.in), the consolidated text published by the Legislative Department, Government of India. Text as updated on India Code on 15 October 2026. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.
Supreme Court judgments citing the section 61
- B.K. Educational Services Private Limited v. Parag Gupta and Associates
- Kerala State Electricity Board and Anr v. Kurien E. Kalathil and Anr.
- T.N. Generation & Distbn. Corpn. Ltd. v. Ppn Power Gen. Co. Pvt. Ltd.
- Deepa Bhargava & Anr. v. Mahesh Bhargava & Ors.
- Gurpreet Singh v. Union of India
- National Textile Corporation (Gujarat) v. State Bank of India and Ors.
- M/S. Industrial Credit and Development Syndicate Now Called I.C.D.S. Ltd. v. Smt. Smithaben H. Patel and Others