Judges : S.SANKARASUBBAN,A.K.BASHEER
Francis - Appellant
Versus
John Britto - Respondent
Case No : C.R.P.No.637 of 2004
Decided On : 10/21/2004
Advocates Appeared :
Anil K.Narendran For Petitioner C.A. Rajeev, K.V. Sadananda Prabhu, VPK. Panicker, Sreelekha Puthalath, A.R. Dileep, Abraham George Jacob, S.Gowtham & George Varghese (Perumpallikuttiyil) For Respondents.
Limitation Act 1963, S.127 -- Civil Procedure code 1908, Order XXI Rule 89 - Appellant in appeal and petitioner in Civil Revision Petition is same person - State Bank of Travancore filed and obtained a decree for recovery of money - During execution proceeding second defendant died and deceased defendant's legal heirs were impleaded - Petitioner remitted entire amount in time and matter was posted for confirmation of auction application petitioner filed objection - Seeking an order to treat for setting aside sale as filed within time or in alternative condone one day's delay in making deposit and filing said petitioner filed a detailed objection contending that delay in depositing purchase money cannot be condoned by invoking inherent powers and there is no provision to condone said delay - Along with first respondent also filed to amend date of auction mentioned – Held, Order passed by Court below is not correct. a petition to set aside sale has to be filed within days of sale Limitation Act does not apply to execution proceedings that cannot apply to delay There is no dispute even by Court below that application wad filed on day - Court below went wrong in holding that delay happened due to office of Court - This is not a matter that is to be taken into consideration we have to see is whether petition has been filed within days it is not filed petition is not maintainable - Court held that benefit Limitation Act is available only to suit appeal or application and not to deposits required to be made Code of Civil Procedure In on Limitation it is stated thus - Delay in applying within period of 60 days prescribed by cannot be excused Limitation Act is not applicable to cases impugned orders are set aside – Petition dismissed (Para 6)
S. Sankarasubban, J.
Both these cases are connected. Appellant in the appeal and the petitioner in the Civil Revision Petition is the same person. State Bank of Travancore filed O.S.No.129 of 1984 and obtained a decree for recovery of money. During the execution proceedings, the second defendant died and deceased defendant's legal heirs were impleaded. The decree schedule property consisting of 42 cents of land at Chettikkadu Muri was brought to sale. In the Court auction conducted on 3.10.2002, the petitioner was the auction purchaser for Rs.84,001/-. As provided under the auction notice, the petitioner remitted the entire amount in time and the matter was posted to 5.12.2002 for confirmation of the auction.
2. On 3.12.2002, beyond the time limit of 60 days from the date of the sale, the first respondent, who is the fifth judgment debtor deposited an amount of Rs.4,205/-being 5% of the purchase price. The purchaser filed E.A.No.510 of 2002 under O.XXI R.89 of the Code of Civil Procedure to set aside the sale in favour of the petitioner. In E.A.No.510 of 2002, the date of sale was mentioned as 4.10.2002, instead of 3.10.2002. To the above application, the petitioner filed objection. In the objection, the petitioner has categorically contended that E.A.No.510 of 2002 is not maintainable, as the deposit was made beyond 60 days. The petitioner further contended that with ulterior motive the first respondent mentioned the date of auction as 4.10.2002 and in addition to this he has absolutely no interest in the decree schedule property.
3. S.151 of the Code of Civil Procedure seeking an order to treat E.A.No.510 of 2002 for setting aside the sale, as filed within time or in the alternative condone one day's delay in making the deposit and filing the said E.A. To E.A.No.58 of 2003, the petitioner filed a detailed objection contending that the delay in depositing the purchase money cannot be condoned by invoking the inherent powers and there is no provision to
condone the said delay. Along with E.A.No.58 of 2003, the first respondent also filed E.A.No.59 of 2003 to amend the date of auction mentioned in E.A.No.510 of 2002 as 3.10.2002 instead of 4.10.2002. To the above application as well, the petitioner filed a detailed objection.
4. According to the petitioner, without properly appreciating the various contentions raised by the petitioner, the Court below by its order dated 12.2.2004 allowed E.A.No.58 of 2003 and consequently allowed E.A.No.510 of 2002 thereby setting aside the sale. In the above circumstances C.R.P.No.637 of 2004 is filed against the order in E.A. No.58 of 2003 while F.A.O.No.86 of 2004 is filed against the order in E. A.No.510 of 2002. By the impugned order, the Court below condoned the delay of one day in filing the application. The Court below held that so far as the petition under O.XXI R.89 of the Code of Civil Procedure is concerned, it is governed by Art.127 of the Limitation Act by which the petition has to be filed within 60 days. It was also of the view that there was no provision for condoning the delay. In spite of this, the Court below allowed the petition on the ground that the judgment debtor should not suffer because of the delay in the Court. According to the judgment debtor, E. A.No.510 of 2002, was filed for setting aside the sale conducted in the E.P. on 3.10.2002 by depositing the amount due to the decree holder and 5% thereon due to the auction purchaser. The deposit was made on 3.12.2003 on the 61st day. It was not due to any fault on the petitioner that the deposit had to be on the 61st day of the sale. In fact, money was arranged for deposit on 29.11.2002. A request for issue of chalan was filed by the petitioner's advocate on 29.11.2002 itself. But the Court ordered issuance of the chalan only on 2.12.2002. The chalan was received from the office only at 4.30 P.M. By that time, time for deposit in the treasury was over. On the next day itself, the deposit was made and the applicati
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