PATNA HIGH COURT
S.K.Das and Banerji JJ.
Phulchand Sah
Versus
Dinkar Prasad
Appeal From Appellate Decree No. 1112 of 1949 ; 1948 of 1949 ; 1677 of 1949 ;
Decided On : AUGUST 18, 1954
ORDER 2 RULE 2 CIVIL PROCEDURE CODE - SPLITTING OF CLAIMS - SAME CAUSE OF ACTION - SUDBHARNA BOND - MORTGAGEE'S RIGHT TO COMPENSATION FOR DISPOSSESSION - INTERPRETATION OF SUDBHARNA BOND.
Fact of the Case:
Plaintiffs, members of a joint Hindu family, filed a suit claiming Rs. 998/- as the price of paddy grown on mortgaged land in the year of dispossession, based on a stipulation in the mortgage bond. The trial court allowed the claim in part, and the appellate court dismissed the appeal. A second appeal was remanded for rehearing, and the Subordinate Judge dismissed the appeal, holding that the claim was maintainable. In a separate suit, the plaintiffs claimed their share of the principal mortgage money and compensation for dispossession. The trial court allowed a mortgage decree for the principal amount but disallowed compensation. The appellate court dismissed the suit, holding that Order 2, Rule 2, Civil P. C., barred the claim. The plaintiffs appealed.
Finding of the Court:
The court held that the claim for compensation and the principal mortgage money arose from the same cause of action, namely, dispossession, and should have been included in the first suit. Order 2, Rule 2, Civil P. C., barred the subsequent suit for the principal mortgage money. However, the plaintiffs were entitled to compensation for the first year of dispossession, as provided in the sudbharna bond.
Issues: 1. Whether the claim for compensation and the principal mortgage money arose from the same cause of action. 2. Whether Order 2, Rule 2, Civil P. C., barred the subsequent suit for the principal mortgage money. 3. Whether the plaintiffs were entitled to compensation for the first year of dispossession.
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The court interpreted the sudbharna bond to determine the cause of action for the claims. It held that the claim for compensation and the principal mortgage money arose from the same cause of action, namely, dispossession, as both claims were based on the dispossession of the plaintiffs from the mortgaged land. 2. Order 2, Rule 2, Civil P. C., barred the subsequent suit for the principal mortgage money because the plaintiffs had omitted to include it in the first suit, which was based on the same cause of action. 3. The court held that the plaintiffs were entitled to compensation for the first year of dispossession, as provided in the sudbharna bond, despite the bar under Order 2, Rule 2, Civil P. C., as the omission to claim compensation in the first suit was not intentional and did not prejudice the defendants.
Final Decision: The court dismissed both appeals. The appeal challenging the dismissal of the suit for the principal mortgage money was dismissed because the claim was barred under Order 2, Rule 2, Civil P. C. The appeal challenging the dismissal of the claim for compensation was dismissed because the plaintiffs were entitled to compensation for the first year of dispossession under the terms of the sudbharna bond.
Das, J.
1. These two appeals have been heard together and will be governed by this judgment. The plaintiffs are the appellants in Second Appeal No. 1112 of 1948, while in Second Appeal No. 1677 of 1949 defendant 1 is the appellant. Though the appeals arise out of two different suits, the facts are more or less the same. These facts so far as they are relevant for the determination of the two appeals are shortly stated below.
2. The plaintiffs were Chowdhury Sah, his son and grand-sons--all members of a joint Hindu family. Chowdhury Sah is now dead and the appeal is prosecuted by his son and grand-sons, For the sake of convenience, I shall call them the plaintiffs. One Anant Lal Sah was the defendant second party. His father was Soukhichand Sah. The plaintiffs and Soukhichand Sah were joint till 1936 in which year there was a separation and the plaintiffs formed one joint family of which Chowdhury Sah was the Karta. Soukhichand Sah, and after his death his son Anant Lal Sah, became the karta of the other branch of the family represented by Soukhichand Sah, One Chakradhar Prasad and his sons formed a third joint Hindu family of which Chakradhar Prasad was the karta. They were the defendants first party. Chakradhar Prasad, defendant 1, representing his family borrowed Rs. 1,725/- on the basis of a simple mortgage dated 25-2-1930 from the plaintiffs and the father of the defendant second party. In order to pay off the dues of that mortgage bond, defendant 1 executed a sudbharna bond, which is the bond in suit, on 12-10-1936, for a consideration of Rs. 2,425/-. The bond was executed in favour of Chowdhury Sah and Soukhichand Sah. The rate of interest stipulated in the bond was 2 per cent. per month, and in lieu of payment of interest, the mortgagees were put in possession, the stipulation being that the mortgagees would appropriate or enjoy the usufruct of the land mortgaged in lieu of payment of interest. The total area of the land mortgaged was about 88 bighas, but there was a provision in the bond that in case of payment of a sum of Rs. 100/-, or multiples thereof, the mortgagees would release from possession 31/2 bighas of land for every hundred rupees, paid. It was the admitted case of the parties that out of the mortgage, money a sum of Rs. 600.00 was paid by the mortgagor and 21 bighas of land were released. The balance of the mortgage money, that remained to be paid was Rs. 1,825/- only. The due date of repayment of this balance was Chait, 1347 M. S. which would correspond to some time in 1940-41. There was a stipulation in the bond that in case of default in payment of the balance of the prin-cipal amount, the mortgagees could either sue for the money remaining unpaid or continue to remain in possession of the mortgaged land. The balance of the principal amount was not paid by Chait 1347 M. S. and the mortgagees continued in possession cf about 67 bighas of land.
It was alleged by the plaintiffs that on 14-4-1943, the defendant second party received from the mortgagor his share of the mortgage money and duly endorsed a satisfaction on the back of the mortgage bond. On the same date, the mortgagor (that is, the defendants first party) dispossessed the plaintiffs from the mortgaged lands without making any payment of the proportionate amount of mortgage money due to the plaintiffs. On 17-12-1943, the plaintiffs brought a suit claiming Rs. 998/- as the price of the paddy grown on the land in the year in which dispossession took place. This claim was based on a stipulation in the mortgage bond that in the event of dispossession by the mortgagor, the mortgagee would be entitled to the value of the crop grown on the land in the year in which the dispossession took place by way of damages. The learned Subordinate Judge who dealt with the appeal arising out of the suit in which the plaintiffs claimed Rs. 998/- has quoted the relevant clause in the sudbharna bond and has given the effect of the clause in the following words
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