GAJJA SINGH Vs. GURDIAL SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A preliminary objection has been raised in this case that the present appeal does not lie to this Court, the value for the purpose of jurisdiction of the suit being Rs. 500/- only. The present suit was instituted by the plaintiffs- respondents for possession, by way of pre-emption, of some agricultural land sold by Gurbux Singh defendant No. 4 on 14th September 1956 for a consideration of Rs. 5,375/-. The value for the purpose of Court-fee was fixed at Rs. 200/- and for the purposes of jurisdiction at Rs. 500/-. The trial Court decreed the suit on payment of Rs. 5,375/-. The vendees have come up in appeal to this Court against this decree. The learned Advocate for the plaintiff-respondents preemptors relies on Section 39(1)(a) of the Punjab Courts Act which is in the following terms:

(2.) When the appeal came before the Division Bench, the plaintiff-respondents raised a preliminary objection to the hearing of this appeal on the ground that the appeal did not lie direct to this Court as the value of the original suit was only Rs. 500/-. As the Division Bench considered the point raised to be important, it referred it to a larger Bench, and the case has now come before us for decision.

(3.) It is common ground between the parties that the value of the suit was correctly calculated on the basis of land revenue, and that the value of the original suit for jurisdictional purposes was Rs. 500/-. The plaintiff-respondents' case is that the appeal did not lie to this Court, as the value of the suit was less than Rs. 5,000/-. The vendee appellants' case, on the other hand, is that the appeal lay direct to the High Court because the decree under appeal had directed delivery of possession to the pre-emptors on payment of Rs. 5,375/-, which amount exceeds Rs. 5,000/-. It is necessary to determine which of the rival contentions is correct in law.