Can a mortgage be redeemed before the period stipulated in the deed has run?

Yes, as a general rule. A mortgage is redeemable even before the expiry of the stipulated period unless there is a valid statutory restriction or an express covenant creating a legally enforceable bar. The mortgagor's right of redemption is a substantive statutory right protected under the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, and any contractual term which completely prevents or unreasonably restricts its exercise amounts to a clog on the equity of redemption and is unenforceable.

Transfer of Property Act, 1882 — s.62 — Usufructuary mortgage — Redemption — Clog on the equity of redemption — Indian Succession Act, 1925 — s.33 — Sreedhana — Partition — Moulding of relief — Transfer of Property Act, 1882 — Redemption before the stipulated period — Clog on the equity of redemption — Held: A mortgage is redeemable even before the stipulated period expires unless a statutory restriction or an express enforceable covenant bars it; a term that prevents or unreasonably restricts redemption is a clog on the equity of redemption and unenforceable. (¶18) Transfer of Property Act, 1882 — s.62 — Usufructuary mortgage — No reimbursement for improvements — Held further: A usufructuary mortgagee holds possession and appropriates the rents and profits in lieu of interest; without an express covenant he cannot demand the value of improvements as a condition precedent to redemption. (¶22) Indian Succession Act, 1925 — s.33 — Sreedhana is not a partition of the daughter's inheritance — Held further: A gift of Sreedhana at marriage is neither partition nor relinquishment and cannot curtail a daughter's statutory right to succeed; among Christians the widow takes one-third and the lineal descendants two-thirds equally. (¶26, ¶29) Partition — Candour as to assets and liabilities — Relief to be moulded — Held further: A plaintiff seeking partition must disclose the estate's liabilities as well as its assets, and a court finding an entitlement smaller than claimed should mould the relief rather than dismiss the suit. Appeal partly allowed. (¶28, ¶33)

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