G GANGAPPA Vs. H S RAJANNA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Appeal comes before the Division Bench on a Reference under Section 6 of the Karnataka High Court Act, 1961 by order dated 5-8-1991 passed by Learned Brother Murlidher Rao, J.

(2.) The circumstances leading to the Reference are as under:- The appellant, a money-lender, advanced a loan under a Promissory Note to the defendants on 22-7-1974. He obtained a money-lenders licence from the Registrar of Money Lenders, on 22-10-1975 with an endorsement that "the licence shall be valid from 1-1-1974 upto 31st December, 1975". He filed Original Suit No. 83 of 1977 in the Court of Principal Munsiff, Tumkur on 14-4-1977 with licence Ex.P.5 with the above endorsement. The learned Munsiff decreed the suit, but the Lower Appellate Court in Regular Appeal No. 85 of 1979 reversed the judgment and decree of the learned Munsiff and dismissed the suit holding that under Section 10 of the Karnataka Money Lenders Act, 1961 (herein after referred to as the Act") there was no power in the Authority to grant a Money Lenders Licence with retrospective effect and since the appellant did not have a licence on the date of advancing the loan on 22-7-1974 he was not entitled to maintain the suit. Prior to filling of the suit, Section 11 of the Act came to be amended by Karnataka Ordinance No. 32 of 1976 which came into force on 27- 10-1976 and subsequently the Ordinance became Act No. 77/76 which was brought into force retrospectively from 27-10-1976. By this amendment sub-sections (2) (3) and (4) of Section 11 of the Act were deleted and sub-section (1) was amended by insertion of the words "and on the date such suit was filed".

(3.) In BASAPPA AND OTHERS vs GAREMANE KAMANNA1 the learned Single Judge of this Court (Murlidher Rao, J.,) interpreting Sections 6 and 10 of the Act held that the Licensing Authority had no power to grant licence retrospectively and a licence granted would be valid right from the date on which it was granted upto 31st December of that year.