The pecuniary jurisdiction of the Court to which a decree is transferred for execution is determined by the valuation of the claim in the plaint in the suit in which the decree was passed, and not by the amount for which the decree sought to be executed has been passed.

JUDGMENT-The only question raised in this appeal is whether the City Civil Court at Bombay has jurisdiction to execute a money decree transferred to it for execution by another Court when the total decretal amount to be recovered in execution exceeds the amount of Rs. 25,000 which is the pecuniary jurisdiction of the City Civil Court.

2. In Civil Suit No. 7-B of 1952 decided by the Civil Judge No. 1, Yeotmal, the plaintiff decree-holder obtained a decree for payment of Rs. 17,118-9-0 on 22-8-1956. The amount was payable with interest at 12 per cent per annum from 4-11-1952 till realisation. The figure of the amount due from the defendants ultimately swelled to Rs. 35,763.31 P. and under section 39 of the Code of Civil Procedure the decree was transferred to the City Civil Court at Bombay by the Yeotmal Court.

3. An objection was taken in Executing Court to the maintainability of the execution on the ground that since the amount due and payable to the decree-holder exceeds the wm of Rs. 25,000 which is the limit of pecuniary jurisdiction of the City Civil Court, the Court will have no jurisdiction to entertain the execution proceedings. The City Civil Court took the view that having regard to the provisions of section 3 of the Bombay City Civil Court Act, 1948 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act") when dealing with the execution proceedings, the City Civil Court was dealing with the proceedings of Civil nature and since the jurisdiction of the City Civil Court is restricted to try and dispose of all the proceedings of civil nature not exceeding Rs. 25,000 in value, the City Civil Court did not have the jurisdiction to execute the decree. The appellant decree-holder challenges the view taken by the City Civil Court that it has no jurisdiction to proceed to execute the decree which is transferred to it because the total amount to be recovered under the decree exceeds the limit of its pecuniary jurisdiction.

4. Mr. Tulsian on behalf of the appellant contends that the learned Judge was bound to follow, the decisions of this Court in Shri Sidheshwar Pandit v. Shri Harihar Pandit1 and Rustomjee Sorabji v. Mahadev Chintaman2, and should have held that section 3 of the Act did not come in the way of entertaining the execution proceedings. The learned Judge of the City Civil Court had also relied on a similar decision given by him in Bhandara Suit No. 15-B of 1958 on 27th February 1970 where he preferred to follow the decision of the Allahabad High Court in Kadar Nath v. Chhajju Mal3.

5. Now before we go to the provisions in section 3 of the Act, it is necessary to refer to the law relating to transfer of a decree for execution. Section 39 deals with a transfer of decree for execution. Section 39 (1), empowers the Court which passed a decree to send it for execution to another Court on the application of the decree-holder in cases which are enumerated in clauses (a) to (d) of that section. The decree would be transferred to a Court within whose local limits or jurisdiction the person against whom the decree is passed actually and voluntarily resides or carries on business, or personally works for gain or if such person has not property within the local limits of the jurisdiction of the Court which passed the decree sufficient to satisfy such decree and has property within the local limits of the jurisdiction of the other Court, then the decree can be transferred for execution to such other Court. The decree can also be transferred if the decree directs the sale or delivery of immovable property situate outside the local limits of the jurisdiction of the Court which passed it, or if the Court which passed the decree considers for any other reason, which it shall record in writing, that the decree should be executed by such other Court. Neither section 38 which provides that a decree may be executed either by the Court which passed it, or by the Court to which it is sent for execution nor section 39 which provides for the power to send a

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