HIRA MEHER Vs. BIRBAL PRASAD AGARWALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS second appeal has been filed by the defendants against the judgment and decree passed by Sri R. C. Misra, District Judge of Sambalpur, reversing the decision of Sri B. K. Misra, Munsif of Bargarh, arising out of a suit brought by plaintiff Birbal Prasad Agarwala for recovery of a sum of Rs. 611/10 representing the price of goods supplied to the defendants and for recovery of customary damages by way of interest at the rate of six per cent. per annum. The plaintiff has laid his claim at Rs. 650/ -. The plaintiff's case is that he was a businessman at Kadobahal; but as he was not on good terms with the Gountia of the village, he had to shift his business to Jhilminda at a distance of nearly two miles from his original place of business. The first defendant is the second defendant's daughter's son. The plaintiff's allegation is that the second defendant, who had a retail shop at Kadobahal, used to take articles from the shop of the plaintiff on credit. The suit is for the price of the articles alleged to have been supplied by the plaintiff to the defendants on 22 -1 -1952. The plaintiff relies upon the entries in his credit register on that particular date. It is to be noted, all the articles, alleged to have been supplied to the credit of the defendants for the value of which the plaint ft has brought the suit, were supplied on that particular day and they have been entered in one page of the credit register which is Ext. 8, the entries being marked on Ext. 8/a.

(2.) THE defence is a denial of the transaction and further that Ext. 8/a is not at all genuine. According to the defendants, they had never taken the aforesaid articles worth Rs. 611/10 on 22 -1 -1952 or on any other date and that they do not owe any money to the plaintiff and that a false suit has been brought on account of the plaintiff and the defendants having supported different candidates in the election of the year 1952, one of the candidates belonging to the congress party and the other having been set up by the Ganatantra Parished.

(3.) THE lower appellate Court however has reversed the judgment of the trial Court on the finding that Ext. 8 is an account book regularly kept in the course of business and is relevant under S. 34 of the Indian Evidence Act. He also used the evidence of P. W. 2 for the purpose of corroboration. He relied upon the replies given by the defendants to the plaintiff during the course of correspondence between them.