KISHORI LAL Vs. KALEAN KHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE applicant here, who was the plaintiff in the Court of first instance, has been unfortunate in the trial of his case. THE case was instituted in the Court of Small Causes and was under the orders of the District Judge, transferred for disposal to a Bench of Honorary Munsifs. THE whole procedure of the Munsifs, after the case came to their cognizance, is a chapter of errors resulting apparently in considerable hardship to the plaintiff THE plaintiff took certain measures in order to secure a proper order from the Bench and he succeeded so far, that the Bench of Munsifs, acting under the directions of the Judge of the Small Cause Court, passed what purported to be an amended decree in favour of the plaintiff. One of the defendants then went in appeal to the District Judge, who has held that the Munsifs had no authority to amend the decree and consequently he has set aside their order. Tie plaintiff now attacks the order of the learned District Judge, on the ground that he hid no jurisdiction to entertain the appeal which was preferred before him. THE learned Counsel for the appellant has, I think, been under some misapprehension regarding the state of the law While it is true that there is no appeal from a decree of the Small Cause Court, it is provided by Section 8 of the Honorary Munsifs Act, Act II of 1896, that when a case has been transferred from a Court of Small Causes to a Bench of Honorary Munsifs, it ceases to retain the character of a Small Cause Court suit and a decree passed by the Munsifs in that suit becomes appealable. This is obvious from a reference to the provisions of Section 24, Sub-section (4), of the Code of Civil Procedure. This sub-section is declared by Section 8 of the Honorary Munsifs Act not to apply to cases transferred from a Small Cause Court to a Court of Honorary Munsifs. It was, therefore, competent for the defendants to appeal to the District Judge and it is not possible to argue that the learned District Judge exercised jurisdiction which was not vested in him; nor moreover is it possible to say that the learned Judge has acted with material irregularity or illegality.

(2.) FOR these reasons this application for revision of the Judge s order must fail. The application is dismissed with costs accordingly. The costs in this Court will include fees on the higher scale.