Appeal against order directing property guardian to bring into Court certain amounts.

By this petition, a person who was appointed the property guardian of a minor on 8th January, 1942, in O.P.No.72 of 1940, seeks to revise the order of the District Judge, Anantapur, dated 3rd September, 1948, calling upon him to bring some amounts said to belong to the estate of the minor into Court. At the outset the counsel for the respondent, who is the mother and the personal guardian of the minor, has raised a preliminary objection to the maintainability of the revision petition. In order to get over this difficulty a petition has been filed by Mr. Bhujanga Rao on behalf of the petitioner to convert the Civil Revision Petition into a Civil Miscellaneous Appeal under section 43 of the Guardians and Wards Act.

In order to appreciate the preliminary objection and the contention raised in this petition it is necessary to set out briefly a few material facts. By the order of appointment the petitioner was directed to file accounts for each year on or before the 5th day of July, and not to invest any amount belonging to the estate of the minor in any concern without the sanction of the Court. In pursuance of those directions the petitioner was filing accounts every year before the 5th of July, and they were being scrutinised and passed up to the end of 1946. In July, 1947, the District Judge, as a result of scrutiny of the accounts filed by the petitioner, passed certain remarks and called upon the petitioner to offer an explanation in respect thereof. Accordingly the petitioner filed a memo. giving explanation on all the matters referred to in those remarks. It is not in evidence as to what happened to that memo. Ultimately the District Judge framed charges against the petitioner, and some of the items involved in the order under revision were also the subject-matter of those charges. An explanation was offered by the petitioner, but without considering it, the District Judge removed the petitioner on 24th February, 1948, and directed him to hand over charge of the estate to the Official Receiver who was appointed as property guardian in his place.

As against the order dismissing him, the petitioner preferred C.M.A.No. 189 of 1948, which was ultimately dismissed by a Bench of this Court. Subsequently, he handed over charge to the Official Receiver as directed by the order of his removal. On 12th July, 1948, the petitioner was required to appear in Court with account books. Pursuant to this notice he appeared in Court and filed a memo. stating that accounts had already been filed into Court. Notwithstanding this, the petitioner was called upon to show cause why he should not be fined for disobeying the previous order of the Court calling upon him to file accounts into Court, and ultimately he was fined in a sum of Rs.25 in spite of his explanation. Subsequently, that is, on 13th August, 1948, the petitioner was required to submit a list of debtors to the estate, which direction was complied with by him. On 3rd September, 1948, the order under revision was made by the learned District Judge calling upon him to bring into Court the various amounts mentioned in that order. It is against that order that the present Civil Revision Petition is filed.

In view of the application filed by Mr. Bhujanga Rao for converting it into an appeal, which I am inclined to allow for the reasons mentioned hereunder, it is unnecessary for me to consider the soundness of the preliminary objection.

In order to appreciate the questions arising in this case, it is necessary to refer to certain provisions of the Guardians and Wards Act. Section 34 provides:

“Where a guardian of the property of a ward has been appointed or declared by the Court and such guardian is not the Collector, he shall-

(a) If so required by the Court, give a bond as nearly as may be in the prescribed form, to the Judge of the Court to enure for the benefit of the Judge for the time being, with or without sureties, as may be prescribed, engaging duly to account for what he may r