1943 Supreme(SC) 12
PRIVY COUNCIL [ON APPEAL FROM THEEAST INDIES]
LORD ATKIN, LORD RUSSELL OF KILLOWEN, LORD PORTER, SIR GEORGE RANKIN, AND SIR MADHAVAN NAIR.
GOVIND PRASAD - Appellant
Versus
PAWANKUMAR - Respondents
On appeal from the High Court at Nagpur.
Decided On : Mar. 4. 1943.
Solicitors for appellants:Douglas Grant & Dold. Solicitors for respondent: Hy. S. L. Polak & Co.
An execution application correct in form is 'made in accordance with law' despite dismissal for default. Under the Provincial Insolvency Act, the period from adjudication to annulment (including appellate annulment) is excluded from limitation if the creditor lodges proof as prescribed, regardless of whether the court admits the debt.
Headnote:(A) Indian Limitation Act, 1908 - Article 182, cl. 5 - Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 - Order XXI, Rules 11, 13, 14 and 17 - Provincial Insolvency Act, 1920 - Sections 33, 49 and 78(2) - Execution of decree - Limitation period - Application "made in accordance with law" - Effect of dismissal for default - Exclusion of period during insolvency adjudication - Meaning of "proved" debt - If an application for execution is correct in form and registered, the subsequent failure to produce documents requested by the court under a permissive provision (such as Order XXI, Rule 14 of the Code of Civil Procedure) and the resulting dismissal for default does not render the application one not "made in accordance with law" - Such an application serves as a fresh starting point for the limitation period.
(B) Provincial Insolvency Act, 1920 - Section 78(2) - Exclusion of time - The term "annulled under this Act" is wide enough to include an annulment resulting from the setting aside of an adjudication order by an Appellate Court.
(C) Provincial Insolvency Act, 1920 - Section 78(2) - Proviso - Meaning of "proved" - A debt is "proved" within the meaning of the proviso to Section 78(2) when the creditor lodges a proof in the mode prescribed by Section 49 of the Act - It is not necessary that the debt must be admitted or accepted by the court or the official receiver; the mere fulfillment of the statutory requirements for lodging proof is sufficient.
Facts of the case:
A decree-holder filed an execution application within the limitation period. The court requested certified extracts of land registers, but the application was dismissed for default after the judgment-debtors were adjudged insolvent. The decree-holder filed a claim in the insolvency court, which was later suspended from the schedule. The adjudication of insolvency was subsequently set aside by an appellate court. A second execution application was filed after the annulment, which was challenged as being time-barred.
Findings of Court:
The first execution application was "made in accordance with law," thus resetting the limitation period. Additionally, the period between the adjudication of insolvency and its annulment by the appellate court is excludable under the Provincial Insolvency Act, provided the debt was "proved" by lodging the required affidavit.
Issues: (1) Whether an execution application dismissed for default due to failure to provide permissive documentation is "made in accordance with law" under the Limitation Act; (2) Whether annulment of adjudication by an appellate court falls under Section 78(2) of the Provincial Insolvency Act; and (3) Whether "proved" in the proviso to Section 78(2) requires judicial acceptance of the debt.
Ratio Decidendi: An application correct in form and registered is "made in accordance with law" even if dismissed for default. Under the Provincial Insolvency Act, "annulled under this Act" includes appellate reversals. A debt is "proved" once the statutory requirements for lodging proof under Section 49 are met, regardless of whether the court has formally admitted the claim.
Result: Appeal dismissed.
Legal Category Hierarchy
-
practice and procedure
-
execution of decrees
- limitation
- civil procedure code
-
execution of decrees
-
insolvency law
-
provincial insolvency act
- annulment of adjudication
- proof of debt
-
provincial insolvency act
Judgement
Appeal (No. 23 of 1941) from an order of the High Court (November 11, 1938) which affirmed an order of the Additional District Judge, Raipur (August 20, 1935).
The following facts are taken from the judgment of the Judicial Committee. This appeal arose out of an execution proceeding, and the question for determination was whether the. application made by the decree-holder, the present respondent, for the execution of a decree which he had obtained against the appellants—the judgment-debtors—was barred by time. The District Judge and, on appeal, the High Court (Stone C.J. and Bose J.) held that it was not barred. The material facts were as follows One Madanlal Sao, the father of the respondent, obtained a decree against the appellants on February 1, 1932, in the Court of the Additional District Judge, Raipur, for Rs.32,185-5-3 with interest and costs. Before judgment, he had the immovable properties of the appellants attached under the Code of Civil Procedure. On June 27, 1932, which was within the period of three years prescribed by the Indian Limitation Act, Madanlal Sao applied for execution of his decree by the sale of the villages which had already been attached. On July 5 the court registered the application, making the following order "Application is corrected. It is reported to be correct. It "be registered. In this case the judgment-debtors seven "villages have been attached by the decree-holder before "judgment, and he prays for the issue of C form to the "collector. The decree-holder should file copies of mutation "registers and decrees by August 13, 1932, and C form be "prepared and put up on August 20, 1932." The order to obtain copies of the mutation registers was apparently passed under Or. xxi., r. 14, Civil Procedure Code, which provides that " Where an application is made for the attachment "of any land which is registered in the office of the collector, "the court may require the applicant to produce a certified "extract from the register of such office, specifying the persons "registered as proprietors of, or as possessing any transferable "interest in, the land, or its revenue, or as liable to pay revenue "for the land, and the shares of the registered proprietors.”
The time for filing those copies was extended from time to time till November 5, 1932, when the court passed the following order " Decree-holder absent. Time 4.8 p.m. No copies "filed as it is understood that the judgment-debtors have "been adjudged insolvent. Dismissed for default." While the execution was pending, on July 5, 1932, the Additional Subordinate Judge, Raipur, adjudged the appellants insolvents. On August 19, 1932, Madanlal, the decree-holder, put in a claim in the Insolvency Court supported by an affidavit giving the particulars of his debt as required by s. 49 of the Provincial Insolvency Act, which is as follows Sect. 49, sub-s. 1 " A debt may be proved under this Act by delivering, "or sending by post in a registered letter, to the court an "affidavit verifying the debt." Sub-s.
2 "The affidavit "shall contain or refer to a statement of account showing the "particulars of the debt, and shall specify the vouchers (if any) "by which the same can be substantiated. The court may "at any time call for the production of the vouchers."
On August 20, a list of debts was prepared, in which Madanlals name was entered as a creditor. On September 10, 1932, the Additional Subordinate Judge passed the following order ". . . . No other debts have been proved. HagiWalli "Mohamad, Madanlal Sao, Ambalal Ranchason and Kampta "Prasad are suspended from the Schedule, since the receiver "alleges that they are not fully binding on him; they must "therefore prove on what grounds they got their decrees." On February 28, 1934, the adjudication of the insolvents was set aside by the Appellate Court. On July 23, 1935, the decree-holder, who had since died and was now represented by his son, the respondent, presented the second application for th