SRI SRI SRI RAMACHANDRA DEO MAHARAJULUNGAR MAHARAJAH OF JEYPORE Vs. SRI RAJAH CHETRUCHERLA GANGARAJU BAHADUR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In O.S. No. 5 of 1921 on his file the Judicial Assistant Commissioner of the Agency Division dismissed an application for the appointment of a receiver; and the petitioner before us appealed against that order of dismissal to the Agency Commissioner. The Commissioner, on the ground that one of the parties to the proceedings was his ward, obtained an order from this Court, transferring the appeal to the District Court, Vizagapatam. We are now to transfer it from that Court to the High Court.

(2.) The transfer to the District Court was made by us administratively and without notice to the petitioner, no dispute as to the correctness or sufficiency of the ground on which it was proposed being possible; and there is accordingly no reason why it should not be reconsidered at his instance. He urges that it should be, because this Court had no power to make it or to transfer a case from the file of the Commissioner to that of any Court except the High Court. This contention no doubt involves that our order of transfer to the District Court was ultra vires and ineffective and therefore the relief required is a transfer from the file of the Commissioner, from which the appeal has never been removed in any legal way, to the file of this Court, although that is not what is actually asked for in the petition before us. But it is not suggested by Respondents that there is any substance in the difference. We therefore turn to the law to ascertain our powers in the matter, observing only that neither side disputes the necessity for a transfer to some Court other than that of the Agent with reference to his position as guardian of a party.

(3.) The general power of the High Court to transfer from the file of a Court, such as that of the Agency Commissioner, which is not subject to the Civil P. C., is conferred by Section 107 Government of India Act (5 and 6. Geo. V. c. 6:) and is exerciseable thereunder subject to fulfilment of two conditions, that (1) the Court from which the transfer is made is subject to the High Court's appellate jurisdiction (2) the transfer is to another Court of equal or superior jurisdiction. The first of these conditions is in our opinion complied with, because under Rule XIV of the agency rules at present in force an appeal lies to the High Court from "all decrees passed by the Agency Commissioner upon original suits;" and the conclusion founded directly on this comprehensive wording cannot be affected by the fact, relied on by respondents as inconsistent with the application of Section 107(a) and therefore of the section as a whole, that Rule XIX provides for the submission to the High Court of returns, since that provision may have been made simply for convenience and completeness or with reference to Section 107 proviso.