The probate court has jurisdiction to issue an order for stay of proceedings pending in another Court only if the proceedings before the other Court arose out of the case pending before the probate court.

( 1 ) THIS is an application in revision on behalf of the D. Hs. against an order passed by the Dist. J. of Birbhum staying the sale in Title Execution Case No. 7 of 1950. The opposite parties are the applicants for the grant of letters of administration in respect of a will left by one Saradindu Roy. The D. Hs. who are the petitioners before this Court, had obtained a decree against Amal, one of the sons of Saradindu. They had proceeded to execute the decree against Amal and had prayed for the sale of certain properties which had been inherited by Amal from Saradindu. Claims were filed by the wife and the daughter of Amal as also by the brother's son Amal contending that the properties which were about to be put up to sale did not belong to Amal. The claims as made were dismissed. No suit, it is stated, has yet been filed under Order XXI, Rule 63, Civil P. C. Near about the time when the claim petitions were dismissed, an application was filed by the wife and the daughter of Amal for the grant of letters of administration of a will alleged to have been left by Saradindu. Immediately after this application had been filed the said petitioners moved the probate Court for staying the sale in Title Execution Case No. 7 of 1950 which was then pending in the Court of the Subordinate Judge at Birbhum. The learned Dist. J. issued an interim order, and after hearing the D. Hs. , made the order absolute on 21-9-1950. It is against this order that the said D. Hs. have obtained the present Rule from this Court.

( 2 ) THE first question which requires consideration is whether the probate court has any jurisdiction to issue an order for stay of proceedings pending in another Court. It is contended that the jurisdiction of the probate court is a very limited one, and that Court cannot issue any order on any other court, such other court not being a court subordinate to the probate court. The proceedings before the Court of the Subordinate Judge were not also proceedings which had arisen out of the case pending before the probate court.

( 3 ) IT is now well settled that a Court has jurisdiction to postpone the hearing of a suit which is pending before that court. The grounds for such postponement may be as under Section 10, Civil P. C. , or, even when the grounds cannot be brought within the four corners of that section the Court has an inherent power of staying its own proceedings. Such inherent power to postpone the hearing of a suit, pending the decision of a selected action, may be founded on grounds of convenience. Such inherent power, is to be exercised to facilitate that real and substantial justice is done. See in this connection 'abdul Alim v. Badaruddin Ahmed', 28 C. W. N. 295 and 'hukum Chand v. Kamalanand Singh', 33 Cal 927 at p. 932.

( 4 ) IF in the present case the application for stay of the proceedings pending before the executing court had been made before that Court, there could not have been any question as to the jurisdiction of that court to entertain that application or to deal with it on the merits. But as indicated already, the application was not made in the court where the proceedings in execution were pending but in the probate court.

( 5 ) THE powers of the probate court for the protection of the property which is the subject matter of a testamentary disposition are now regulated by specific provisions contained in the Indian Succession Act. Section 247 of that Act authorises the probate court to appoint an administrator pendente lite till an executor or an administrator is appointed in the usual course. Such an administrator pendente lite has all the rights and powers of a general administrator other than the right of distribution of the estate. The administrator has to act under the immediate control and direction of the probate court. Section 269, Succession Act, makes further provision as to how the probate court can interfere in other proceedings for the protection of the property pendi