KISHNA Vs. HEMA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS case has come to us on a reference by one of us sitting singly.

(2.) THE facts out of which the reference has arisen may be stated very shortly. Plaintiff Hema filed a suit on the 12th September, 1950, for redemption of certain agricultural land in the court of the Munsiff, Chhoti Sadri. THE Rajasthan Revenue Courts (Procedure and Jurisdiction) Act, 1951, (Act No. I of 1951) (hereinafter referred to as the Rajasthan Revenue Courts Act) having come into force on the 31st January, 1951, the Munsiff transferred the suit to the Sub-Divisional Officer, Nimbaheda, on the 30th April, 1951. THE Sub-Divisional Officer, however, sent the case back to the Munsiff, Chhoti Sadri, on the ground that in a similar case is was held by this Court that suits for redemption of agricultural land were triable by a civil court only. After the case was transferred to the Munsiff, Chhoti Sadri, the defendants raised an objection that the Munsiff had no jurisdiction to take cognizance of the suit, and Sub-Divisional Officer, Nimbaheda, had no authority to re-transfer it to the Munsiff's court. THE Munsiff over-ruled the objection by his order dated the 13th of December, 1951, whereupon the petitioners in this court preferred a revision against the above order, which came before one of us and has now been referred to this Bench. THE Munsiff relied on Hira vs. Kanhaiyalal (S. B. Civil Reference No. 74 of 1951 decided on 9th August, 1951), an unreported case in which a learned single Judge (Nawal Kishore J.) took the view that a suit for redemption of agricultural land was not covered by serial No. 5 Group D of Schedule (1) of the Rajasthan Revenue Courts Act which only deals with "application for redemption of a mortgage" and, therefore, such a suit was outside the scope of that Act. In a later case Shrichand vs. Daulatram (1) , Sharma J. held that a suit for redemption of mortgage of agricultural land was exclusively triable by a revenue court. In this state of conflict, the question that falls for consideration in this case is whether a suit for redemption of agricultural land is cognizable by the civil courts or is one which falls within sec. 7 of the Rajasthan Revenue Courts Act and is, therefore, exclusively triable by a revenue court.