PARAS RAM Vs. JANKI BAI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The question referred to us in this appeal is whether the appeal lies to this Court or to the Court of the District Judge, Kanpur.

(2.) The material facts arc as follows : A petition under Section 10 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, was filed by the appellant, the husband, against the respondent his wife, in the Court of the District Judge, Kanpur, who transferred it for disposal to the First Civil Judge, Kanpur. No valuation was given on the petition at all. An application for relief under Section 24 of the Act was made before the learned Civil Judge by the wife and ho passed the order under appeal to the effect that further proceeding on the appellant's petition would remain stayed so long as he did not pay to the wife the sum of Rs. 250/- for her cost of defending the proceeding as ordered on the 7th April, 1958. The appellant, being aggrieved by the order, preferred this appeal to this Court. The appeal was valued in the memorandum of appeal at Rs. 250/-, The memorandum of appeal was presented before S. N. Sahaj, J. who admitted the appeal, ordered a notice of it to be issued to the respondent, and referred the appeal to a larger Bench for decision of "the question raised". What was the question raised is nowhere mentioned in the order of the learned Judge; nor does he refer to any question raised in the memorandum of appeal. When we asked Shri Satyendra Nath Verma what was the question meant by the learned Judge, he informed us that it was whether the appeal lay to this Court or to the Court of the District Judge, Kanpur. The question seems to have been raised by the learned Judge himself. We, therefore, proceed to deal with, the following question :

(3.) A notice of this appeal was sent to the respondent but she has not appeared before us and we are determining the question ex parte against her.