M A NARAYANASWAMI NATTAR Vs. MKMANICKA NATTAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The first defendant in O.S. No. 481 of 1939 on the file of the District Munsiff's Court, Vellore, is the petitioner. The suit was filed in 1939. It was a suit for partition of joint family properties. A preliminary decree was passed on 23 February, 1942, and the Court appointed a commissioner for talcing accounts and for partitioning the properties. No appreciable progress seems to have been achieved for over two years. On 26 May, 1944, the parties to the suit filed a memo in Court stating that they had all executed a muchilika to panchayatdars for settling the suit and praying that the documents filed by the parties into Court might be returned to them for being placed before the panchayatdars. This was signed by the parties and a further endorsement was made thereon that defendants 3 and 4 had no objection to the handing over of the account books to the plaintiff. The Court appears to have asked for the memo being stamped so that it could be treated as a petition, and thereafter on 10 June, 1944, the following order was passed: This is treated as a petition. The Commissioner is requested to bring all the books and documents on the 16th.

(2.) On 16 June, 1944, the following order, was passed: Deliver the books to the plaintiff's pleader for production before the panchayatdars." This is a case governed by Act X of 1940. Section 21 of the Act, which is in Chapter IV which deals with arbitration in suits, runs thus: Where in any suit all the parties interested agree that any matter in difference between them in the suit shall be referred to arbitration, they may at any time before judgment is pronounced apply in writing to the Court for an order of reference.

(3.) Section 23 provides: (1) The Court shall, by order, refer to the arbitrator the matter in difference which he is required to determine, and shall in the order specify such time as it thinks reasonable for the making of the award. (2) Where a matter is referred to arbitration, the Court shall not, save in the manner and to the extent provided in this Act, deal with such matter in the suit.