DHIRENDRA NATH GANGULY Vs. RAGHUBIR SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal raises a pure question of law, namely, whether a decree which has been obtained before the passing of the Calcutta Thika Tenancy Act, 1949, execution whereof was pending at the time of passing of the Calcutta Thika Tenancy (Amendment) Act of 1953, is liable to be rescinded or varied under Section 28 of the original Act of 1949 at the instance of a thika tenant.

(2.) In order to understand how the above question of law has arisen, it will be necessary to state the following facts.

(3.) The Respondents held some lands under the Appellants as thika tenants. The latter got a decree for ejectment against the Respondents on January 17, 1949, that is, prior to February 28, 1949, when the Calcutta Thika Tenancy Act, 1949, came into force. Execution was started by the decree-holders on September 19, 1949. Various orders were passed from time to time and, for the purpose of this appeal, I may take it that an execution case was pending on October 21, 1952, when the Calcutta Thika Tenancy Ordinance, 1952, came into operation and the execution case was also pending on March 14, 1953, when the Calcutta Thika Tenancy (Amendment) Act of 1953 came into force. During the continuance of the Ordinance of 1952, the tenants filed an application under Section 5(2) of the Ordinance, apparently with the object of setting aside the decree so that the case might be remitted to the Controller for dealing according to law. This application was finally disposed of and dismissed on April 29, 1953, that is, after the Amending Act of 1953 had come into force.