( 1 ) IN this reference two questions have been referred to the Special Bench, to wit:-- (1) What, in law, is the nature of a Notarial Bond (Grosses Copy) under the French Law in relation to the Indian Law and what is the mode of its enforcement? (2) What, if any, is the law of limitation, applicable to such enforcement, and what, if any, is the article of the Indian Limitation Act, applicable to such cases, after the introduction of that Act in the French territory of Chandernagore?

( 2 ) ORIGINALLY the reference was heard by a Bench consisting of three learned Judges. As their Lordships could not come to an unanimous decision, their Lordships under Rule 6-A read with Rule 9 of Chapter VII of the Rules of the Appellate Side of this Court referred the matter to my Lord the Chief Justice for referring it to a larger Bench. Hence this matter has come before us.

( 3 ) THE case arises out of an objection petition filed under Section 47 of the Code of Civil Procedure whereby the Appellant before us objected to the execution of a Grosses copy of a Notarial Mortgage Bond executed by the Appellant on September 2, 1949, in the city of Chandernagore, then a part of the Fren