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1958 Supreme(Cal) 126

HIGH COURT OF CALCUTTA
K. C. DAS GUPTA, DEBABRATA MOOKHERJEE
SUDHAKAR MUKHERJEE - Appellant
Versus
GOFUR SHEIKH - Respondent
Civil Revn.  2193  Of  1957
Decided On : MAY 07, 1958

Advocates Appeared:
A.D.MUKHERJI, AMULYA KUMAR MUKHERJEE, ARUN KISHORE DAS GUPTA, S.C.MITTER

Headnote:

Temporary Injunction - West Bengal Estates Acquisition Act - The Tribunal, appointed under Section 44 of the Act, has the powers of a Civil Court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. However, the provisions of Order 39, Rule 1 or Rule 2 of the Civil Procedure Code do not apply to the facts and circumstances of the present proceedings. The Tribunal has not exercised a judicial discretion in the matter and has acted illegally in the exercise of jurisdiction in making the order of temporary injunction.

Fact of the Case:

The petitioner was recorded as the person in actual possession of certain plots of land in the draft record of rights published under the West Bengal Estates Acquisition Act. The opposite parties, claiming to be in actual possession as korfa tenants, appealed to the Tribunal and simultaneously applied for a temporary injunction to restrain the petitioner from dispossessing them.

Finding of the Court:

The Tribunal, purporting to act as a Civil Court, made the order of temporary injunction as prayed for. The High Court found that the provisions of Order 39, Rule 1 or Rule 2 of the Civil Procedure Code do not apply to the present proceedings. The Tribunal did not exercise a judicial discretion in the matter and acted illegally in making the order of temporary injunction.

Issues: Jurisdiction of the Tribunal to make an order of temporary injunction and the applicability of the provisions of the Civil Procedure Code to the present proceedings.

Ratio Decidendi: The Tribunal, appointed under the West Bengal Estates Acquisition Act, has the powers of a Civil Court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. However, the provisions of Order 39, Rule 1 or Rule 2 of the Civil Procedure Code do not apply to the facts and circumstances of the present proceedings. The Tribunal must exercise a judicial discretion in the matter of granting a temporary injunction.

Final Decision: The High Court made the Rule absolute, set aside the order of the Tribunal, and ordered that the application for temporary injunction be rejected. The petitioner was awarded costs from the opposite parties.

K. C. DAS GUPTA, J.

( 1 ) AFTER the present petitioner has been recorded in the draft record of rights published under Section 44 (1) of the West Bengal Estates Acquisition Act, 1953, as the person in actual possession of certain plots of" land, an objection was taken in accordance with the provisions of that section and was rejected by the Revenue Officer. Against this order of rejection, the present opposite parties, who claimed to be the persons in actual khas possession as korfa tenants, appealed to the Tribunal under the provisions of Section 44 (3) of the Act. That appeal is still pending for decision. In the meantime, immediately after the appeal was filed, the opposite parties made an application for an order of temporary injunction, restraining the present petitioner from dispossessing or causing obstruction to the appellant's peaceful possession of the disputed land. The Tribunal overruled the objection raised by the present petitioner that a Tribunal under this Act had no jurisdiction to make any order of temporary injunction and purporting to act as a Civil Court, exercising powers under Order 39, Rule 1 or Rule 2 of the Civil Procedure Code or under Section 151 of the Civil Procedure Code, made the order of temporary injunction as prayed for. Against that order, the present Rule was obtained.

( 2 ) SECTION 55 of the West Bengal Estates Acquisition Act has laid down that a Tribunal appointed for the purpose of Section 44 shall have all the powers of a Civil Court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. If, therefore, the facts and circumstances are such as would attract any provisions of the Civil Procedure Code, it may wall be that the Tribunal would have jurisdiction to act according to such provisions. As I have already indicated, the Tribunal does not seem to be sure in its own mind whether Order 39, Rule 1 or Rule 2 of the Civil Procedure Code does apply and, if so, which of these two Rules. It has merely referred to Section 141 of the Civil Procedure Code and has contended itself with saying, "the procedure laid down in respect of the suit, may be followed, as far as it can be made applicable, in all proceedings in any Court of Civil jurisdiction. " It has not said whether Order 39, Rule 1 or Rule 2 does apply to facts of the case. Quite clearly, however the provisions of Order 39, Rule 1 nave no application, as in the present proceedings there is no question of a property in dispute being in danger of being alienated by any party or wrongfully sold in execution of a decree or that the respondent in the proceedings threatened or intended to remove or dispose of the property with a view to defraud his creditors. Turning to Rule 2 of Order 39, we have to notice that that authorises a party to apply to the Court for a temporary injunction in a suit "restraining the defendants front committing breach of contract or other injury of any kind. " I cannot see how by any stretch of imagination it is possible to say that the appeal to the Tribunal against the order rejecting the objections raised by the appellants to the entry made in the draft record is analogous to a suit for restraining the defendant from committing a breach of contract or other injury of any land. The utmost that could be said is that the proceedings are analogous to a suit but it is nowhere near a suit for restraining the defendant from; committing anything. I should make it clear that I should not be taken to have accepted the learned Judge's view that under the provisions of Section 141 of the Civil Procedure Code, the procedure prescribed in the Civil Procedure Code would be applicable to these proceedings in the Court of Appeal. But assuming, for the sake of argument, that the procedure does apply, I am clearly of opinion that the provisions of Order 39, Rule 1 or Rule 2 can have no operation to the facts and circumstances of the present proceedings.

( 3 ) THE question remains whether such an order can be passed in the exercise or inherent


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