KRISHNAN NAIR Vs. DIVAKARAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The revision petitioner is the petitioner in O. P. No. 16 of 1968 which arose under the Kerala Agriculturists' Debt Relief Act, 1958 (Act 31 of 1958) (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'). The petitioner challenges the order of the Trial Court in I. A. No 964 of 1976 in O. P. No. 16 of 1968 rejecting his application to amend the original petition to include in its 'B' schedule a debt payable by him and to implead the creditor to whom he owes the debt.

(2.) The 1st respondent who alone has entered appearance in the C. R. P. is one of the secured creditors. According to him the application for amendment is not maintainable as it will disturb the order of distribution already laid down by the court in O. P. No. 16 of 1968. Counsel for the revision petitioner, however, contends that since the 'B' schedule happens to be incomplete the petitioner has a right to seek an amendment of the same for the purpose of bringing in a provable debt which has been left out.

(3.) The application in the Trial Court was filed under S.15 and 18 of the Act. S.15 relates to the right of a debtor to apply to the court for a settlement of his debts. S.18 lays down the mode of settlement of the liability of the debtor by the court. S.17 says that in the matter of determining the admissibility and the amount of each claim for the purpose of settlement, the procedure prescribed in the Insolvency Act, 1955, will mutatis mutandis apply. S.35(2) of the Insolvency Act refers to what is a provable debt. It says: