(1.) The plaintiff-petitioner filed a small cause court suit for realisation of Rs. 615 on basis of a promissory note executed by the defendant. The defendant, inter alia, pleaded that he is a scheduled debtor within the meaning of section 2(b) of the Bihar Debt Relief Act, 1976 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') and, the suit has, therefore, abated under section 3(c) of the Act. This question was taken up by the court below and decided in favour of the defendant. The plaintiff has challenged the order by the present application.
(2.) The court has held that the defendant possesses a total area of 3.235 acres of land rejected the plaintiffs case that the defendant has got some more land. In paragraph 5 of the judgment the court took up the question as to whether the lands belonging to the defendant are irrigated or not and after rejecting the plaintiff's evidence recorded the following finding : -
(3.) The court has clearly placed the onus of proving the irrigated nature of the land on the plaintiff which appear to be illegal. Section 3 of the Act provides that notwithstanding anything contained in any other law or any contract or other instrument having the force of law every debt incurred by a scheduled debtor before the commencement of the Act including the amount of interest shall be deemed to have been held discharged. Clause (c) of sub-section (1) states as follows : -