Madras High Court
GOKULAKRISHNAN
Pandurangan - Appellant
Versus
Dasu Reddy - Respondent
Decided On : 01/19/1972
AUCTION SALE - SETTING ASIDE - ORDER XXI, RULE 90, CIVIL P. C. - MATERIAL IRREGULARITIES - SUBSTANTIAL INJURY - COURT'S DISCRETION - APPEALABILITY OF ORDER - ORDER XLIII, CIVIL P. C. - SEC. 104, CIVIL P. C. :-
Fact of the Case:
Judgment debtor filed an application under Order XXI, Rule 90, Civil P. C. to set aside the Court auction sale alleging improper advertisement, fraud, and substantial injury. The District Munsif dismissed the application, but the District Judge allowed the appeal and set aside the sale.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the District Judge had correctly set aside the sale as there were material irregularities in the proclamation and conduct of the sale, and the judgment debtor had been damnified by the sale.
Issues: 1. Whether an application under Order XXI, Rule 90, Civil P. C. can be filed to set aside a sale even after the sale has been confirmed and a sale certificate issued? 2. Whether an order passed under Order XXI, Rule 90, Civil P. C. is appealable under Order XLIII, Civil P. C., attracting the prohibition under Sec. 104, Civil P. C.?
Ratio Decidendi: 1. Yes, an application under Order XXI, Rule 90, Civil P. C. can be filed to set aside a sale even after the sale has been confirmed and a sale certificate issued. 2. The court left the question of appealability of an order passed under Order XXI, Rule 90, Civil P. C. open, as it was not necessary to decide it in the present case.
Final Decision: The court dismissed the civil miscellaneous second appeal, but without costs.
2. Thiru K. M. Srinivasan, the learned counsel for the appellants, submitted that there cannot be any setting aside of the sale under O. XXI, R. 90, Civil P. C. in view of the fact that the sale has taken place and confirmation of the sale has also been made with the issue of a sale certificate and possession being handed over to the auction purchaser. The learned counsel has also stated that there is no substantial injury caused to the judgment-debtor for setting aside the sale and that the District Judge has taken extraneous matters into consideration in setting aside the Court auction sale. It has also been further submitted by the learned counsel that there is no allegation made in the application filed under Order XXI, Rule 90, as to the substantial injury alleged to have been caused to the judgment-debtor.
3. Thiru M. V. Krishnan, the learned counsel for the judgment-debtor, supported the judgment of the District Judge and submitted that there is a clear reasoning given by the District Judge for his setting aside the Court auction sale and that there is no difficulty in coming to the conclusion that the District Judge who disposed of the C. M. A., has clearly found the substantial injury caused to the judgment-debtor in the holding of the Court auction sale. The learned counsel for the respondent also submitted that this appeal is not maintainable since the order passed by the District Munsif and the one by the District Judge arose out of an application under Order XXI, Rule 90 and that the order passed under Order XXI, Rule 90 has to be construed to be one passed under O. XXI, R. 92 and hence the same comes under Order XLIII, Civil P. C. and as such there cannot be any second appeal against the order in C. M. A. 13 of 1970.
4. Thiru K. N. Srinivasan, in support of his contention that a sale once confirmed, cannot be set aside, cited the decision in Bojjanna v. Kistappa, 1947-1 Mad LJ 10 : (AIR 1947 Mad 268). In that decision, a Bench of this Court has stated that a Court has no power under Section 151, Civil P. C. to cancel a sale in execution after it has been confirmed, on the ground of a fraud on the court in the matter of the valuation of the property sold, which fraud had not been the
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