C A STEVENSON Vs. SHAHZADI BEGUM MAHMOODI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In 1905 the Official Receiver was appointed, at the instance of Prince Bukhtyar Shah's creditors, to take charge of his leasehold property, the Dalbhum Mining Estate, consisting of some 1100 square miles of property in the Singh-bhum District. The Official Receiver was, from the said estate, to pay off the creditors and restore the property to Prince Bukhtyar Shah or his heirs. In these proceedings the latter have been referred to as beneficiaries. They are in a position analogous to mortgagors. In 1922 the balance of the creditors claim together with interest was ascertained at the figure 3,86,785-9-7. The matter first came to my notice by an application by one of the beneficiaries, Prince Kamgar Shah, on 21 June 1937. The main points raised on that occasion by the beneficiaries may be summarized as follows: (1) that the estate had not been developed; (2) that the estate was not being efficiently administered, i.e., want of activity and want of system; (3) that the Official Receiver had not and was not collecting the amounts properly due to the estate, in particular, from the most important lessee, the Indian Copper Corporation.

(2.) Substantially the same points are raised by the petitioner in the present application. I was unable, from the information given to me by counsel on behalf of the Receiver, to obtain a clear idea of, nor had I time to go fully into, the matter. Therefore on 30 June 1937, I made what might be called an interim order. By this I called for a report from the Official Receiver. This was supplied, 1 July or August 1937. This report did not appear to me to contain all the information to be expected. At page 7 the Official Receiver appeared to suggest that the prospects of this estate are hopeless. At the bottom of that page he dealt with the minimum rents in a manner which told one very little. How little it told one, or rather how much was concealed from one, has only now become apparent. At the top of p. 8 is the follow-ing statement: In this connexion I may mention that recently some facts have come to my knowledge regarding the payment of the dues of the Indian Copper Corporation Limited to this estate.

(3.) It was definitely stated to me by counsel that until "the facts which had come recently to the knowledge of the Official Receiver" (i. e., the information given by Kamgar Shah) the Official Receiver was under the conviction that only dead rents were realizable. During the hearing of Kamgar Shah's application I expressed the opinion that to deal with this estate a person with qualifications other than those of the Official Receiver himself or of any per. son of his staff were required, i.e. a Chartered Accountant with experience in this branch of work. I probably suggested a name. On the present application the main points raised by the applicant, one of the creditors, and the beneficiaries who support him, are the same as those preferred on the previous occasion.