The Bengal, Agra and Assam Civil Courts (West Bengal Amendment) Act, 1957, applied to pending proceedings also, where the decree or order in question was passed on or after its commencement on January 1, 1958.

1. THIS appeal is now before us on the preliminary point of jurisdiction. The appeal arises out of a suit for, inter alia specific performance of a contract to execute and register a deed of mortgage for a principal sum of Rs. 5,343/ -. The suit was filed in or about the year 1952. It was registered as Title Suit No. 50 of 1952 of the Second Court of the Subordinate Judge of Hooghly. The suit was valued at Rs. 5,343/- and it was eventually dismissed by the learned Subordinate Judge on April 10, 1958, by his judgment and decree of that date, the decree being actually signed on April 19, 1958 Against the above decree of dismissal, the present appeal was filed by the plaintiff in this Court on May 30, 1958. The respondents, after entering appearance in the appeal, took a preliminary objection to the maintainability of the same in this Court in view of the new Amending Act (West Bengal Act XVI of 1957-the Bengal, Agra and Assam Civil Courts (West Bengal Amendment) Act 1957, which had come into force on January 1, 1958, and, by which, the Bengal, Agra and Assam Civil Courts Act, 1887, or, to be more exact, Sec. 21 thereof, was amended by changing or altering the forum of appeal from decisions (decrees or orders) of Subordinate Judges in suits, valued between Rs. 5,000/- and Rs. 10,000/-from this Court to the District Judge, and the respondent contended that, under the said amending statute, the appeal in the present case would lie not to this Court but to the District Judge and so it was not entertainable by this Court, and not maintainable here.

2. AS the question was one of some importance and as it was likely to arise -and, as a matter of fact, had already arisen-in a number of cases, we directed the appeal to be put up for hearing on the above preliminary point and the matter was heard by us on April 7, 1959, when we reserved orders with a direction to the parties to produce some official papers, relating to the statute in question, that is, the amending W. B. Act XVI of 1957, for enabling us to consider the whole matter in the light of the arguments, addressed to us. These papers could not be given to us before about the middle of May, 1959, and, as, meanwhile, some other cases had come up before us for consideration-and had actually been heard-on the same point, in one or two of which the point was even more fully and elaborately argued and the last of which was heard in the beginning of this month, we took time for consideration and this judgment could not be pronounced earlier.

The point at issue depends upon the construction of the new Amending act, or, more precisely, of sec. 4 thereof. That section (Sec. 4) runs as follows :

"nothing in this Act shall apply to or affect any appeal from any decree or order passed before the commencement of this Act. "

For the purpose of ascertaining the true import and effect to this section, it is necessary to set out the Amending Act itself, which consists only of four sections, including the said sec. 4, as quoted hereinbefore.

3. THE Act is initialed "an Act to amend the Bengal, Agra and Assam Civil Courts Act, 1887" and it is styled as the "west Bengal Act XVI of 1957 -The Bengal, Agra and Assam Civil Courts (West Bengal Amendment) Act, 1957". It was passed by the West Bengal Legislature in the year 1957 and received the assent of the President, which was published in the Calcutta Gazette Extra-Ordinary of August 29, 1957. Starting with its short preamble, the amending Act, runs as follows:

"whereas it is expedient to amend the Bengal, Agra, and Assam Civil Courts Act, 1887, in its application to West Bengal for the purpose and in the manner hereinafter appearing; it is hereby enacted in the Eighth Year of the Republic of India, by the Legislature of West Bengal, as follows:-1. (1) This Act may be called the Bengal, Agra and Assam Civil Courts (West Bengal Amendment) Act, 1957. (2) It shall come into force on such date as the State Government may, by notification in the Officia