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1953 Supreme(Raj) 73

Rajasthan High Court
Wanchoo C.J. & Modi, J.
Shah Premchand - Appellant
Versus
Shah Danmal - Respondents
D.B. Civil First Appeal No. 22 of 1951
Decided On : April 07, 1953

Advocates Appeared:
Hukamchand, for Applicant; Meghraj Modi, for Respondent

Headnote:Civil P.C., s. 11—Cases falling within purview of section—Courts not to travel out side.Civil P.C., Sec. 11—Applicability—Section though not exhaustive, courts to look to section alone if a case falls within its purview.Civil P.C., Sec. 11—Court of competent jurisdiction—Plaintiff and defendant partners in firm—Defendant filing suit against plaintiff in Munsiffs court at Kurnool and getting ex parte decree—Plaintiff filing suit of higher valuation in Civil Judges court at Sirohi—Plaintiffs suit not barred as second suit out side scope of Munsiffs Court.Civil P.C., Sec. 13—Subsequent political changes—Status of foreign court decree unaffected.Constitution of India, Art. 261—Article not retrospective—Decrees of former foreign courts not executable by virtue of Article.Rajasthan Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Act, 1950, sec. 53—Remedy under section merely alternative for enforcing decree— Judgment debtor can raise pleas showing defects of jurisdiction.

       Although sec. 11 does not exhaust the scope and extent of the doctrine of res judicata, it does contain the whole law with respect to cases which fall within the purview of that section and in such cases the Court must took to sec 11 and that section alone and not travel out side it to see whether the bar of res judicata applies in a particular case or not. (Para 13)

       Section 11 is not exhaustive of the circumstances in which the principle of res judicata may be applied and it is perfectly legal to apply the principle apart from the section to cases which do not fall within the four corners of that section. But where a case does fall within the purview of sec, 11, then all the requirements of that section must be complied with before the rule of res judicata can be held applicable. (Para 18)

       A decree which was a nullity for want of jurisdiction in the international sense at the time it was passed cannot acquire a higher status thereafter because the foreign court, whose decree it was, has subsequently ceased to be so. (Para 26 )

Modi, J.—This is a plaintiffs first appeal against the judgment and decree of the Civil Judge, Sirohi, dated 26-8-1950. The plaintiff Prem-chand brought a suit against the defendant Danmal in the court of the District Judge, Sirohi on the allegation that the plaintiff and the defendant carried on a partnership business in cloth and yarn and also of commission agents in Kurnool in the Madras Presidency under the name and style of Deoraj Danmal in which the plaintiff had a five annas share, the defendant a nine annas share, and half an anna share was allotted to charity. It was stipulated between the parties that accounts would be made up on Deepawali every year, and the plaintiff alleged that accounts had accordingly been settled up to the Deepawali of 1946. As the plaintiff wished to go to his native village Manora in the former State of Sirohi, the parties are stated to have further gone into accounts upto Falgun Sudi 8, Svt. 2003 corresponding to 1-3-47, and a sum of Rs. 4444/10/9 was found due to the plaintiff and credited to his account. The plaintiff further alleges to have gone to Kurnool for a brief period some time in December, 1947, when relations between the plaintiff and the defendant became considerably strained. The defendant gave a notice to the plaintiff which he received at Kurnool on 16-12-47 and further notices appear to have been exchanged between the parties and finally the plaintiff states to have given a notice to the defendant from his native place on the 26th January, 1948, to the effect that the plaintiff wanted to dissolve the partnership and to have the accounts gone into and the respective liabilities of the partners settled. Eventually, the plaintiff filed the suit on 22-4-48 for dissolution of the partnership and rendition of accounts and valued his suit at a sum of Rs. 5100/- and offered to pay additional court fee if and when so required by the court. It may be stated here that the plaintiff alleged that he and the defendant were residents of villages Manora and Jawal respectively in the former State of Sirohi.

2. The defendant admitted the partnership business and the shares therein as alleged by the plaintiff, but pleaded that as the defendant mostly lived in his own village viz., Jawal in the former State of Sirohi, the plaintiff mismanaged the partnership business, misappropriated considerable sums of money and, therefore, the defendant had filed a suit against the plaintiff in the District Munsiffs Court at Kurnool for dissolution of partnership and rendition of accounts on 8-3-48, about a month and a half before the plaintiff filed his present suit. The defendant contended that the plaintiff had filed his suit on having come to know of the defendants suit at Kurnool. The defendant further stated that the plaintiff had left for his native place Manora in March 1947 and had removed some account books and important papers there. The defendant valued his suit in the Kurnool Court at a sum of Rs. 100/- only. The defendant further pleaded that the Sirohi court had no jurisdiction to entertain the suit filed by the plaintiff, because the subject-matter of the suit was a partnership business situated not in Sirohi but in Kurnool, and also because the entire business of partnership was conducted in the later place.

3. The plaintiff in his replication denied the allegation of misconduct and mismanagement levelled against him by the defendant and reiterated the position taken by him in the plaint. The plaintiff further denied having any knowledge of the the defendants suit in Kurnool and stated that he had received no summons in that suit up to the date of the filing of his replication, that is, up to 27-5-48.

4. On the above pleadings, the trial court framed certain issues on 40-7-48, with which we are not concerned in this appeal, and raised a further issue on 29-6-49 in view of the circumstances that the defendants suit filed in the Kurnool court had meanwhile resulted in a final decree on 27-11-40.



































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