AHMADI BEGUM Vs. DISTRICT MAGISTRATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The District Magistrate of Agra requisitioned a house, under Section 3, U. P. (Temporary) Accommodation Requisition Act, 1947, situated within the limits of the Agra Cantonment for the purposes of allotting it to one Moti Ram Mahgha Ram Sahni. Shrimati Ahmadi Begam, who appears to be the owner of the house was in occupation of the house. She refused to vacate the house as directed by the District Magistrate. The District Magistrate, under the provisions of Section 11 of the said Act, applied to the Munsif of Agra for aid in getting the house vacated and in executing his order. Shrimati Ahmadi Begam and her son, Riyaz Uddin, filed an objection before the learned Munsif alleging that they were not liable to be ejected from the house in dispute. The learned Munsif, however, rejected their objection and passed an order on 8th November 1948, directing that the objectors be ejected from the house. The objectors preferred an appeal to the District Judge of Agra. The learned District Judge held that the order of the District Magistrate requisitioning the house was without jurisdiction inasmuch as the Provincial Government which passed the aforesaid Act had no power to make any law with regard to the regulation of housing accommodation in cantonment areas. But, he further found that, since no appeal was provided for in the Act, he had no jurisdiction to interfere with the order of the Munsif. In the result he dismissed the appeal.

(2.) The objectors have now come up in second appeal to this Court. This is Second Appeal No. 798 of 1949. They have also applied in revision against the order of the Munsif dated 8th November 1948. This is civil Revision No. 249 of 1949.

(3.) A preliminary objection has been raised to the hearing of the appeal and the revision. It is urged that under Section 16 of the Act "no order made in exercise of any power conferred by or under this Act shall be called in question in any Court." It may be observed that Section 16 bars the challenge to an order which has been made "in exercise of any power conferred by or under this Act." Section 16 does not cover orders made in the purported exercise of any power conferred by or under the Act, which orders are not in law covered by any provision of the Act. Therefore we have to see whether the order of the Munsif was made in exercise of the powers conferred by the Act. The Munsif purported to make the order under Section 11 of the Act. Section 11 runs as follows : "(1) If any person fails to comply with any order made under Section 3 the Court shall, on the application of the District Magistrate, execute the order as if it were a decree passed by that Court."