Order on the petition reads s follows-No bidders, sale stopped, petition struck off.

The decree-holder is the appellant. He obtained a mortgage decree on 8th January, 1937, in O.S. No. 5 of 1934 on the file of the District Munsiff’s Court of Karkal. That decree was scaled down under Madras Act IV of 1938 and an appeal against that amended decree was dismissed on 16th January, 1940. The decree-holder thereafter filed R.E.P. No. 411 of 1941 for execution of the decree. That was on 26th March, 1941. The judgment-debtors filed R.E.A. No. 602 of 1941 in the said E.P. No. 411 of 1941 on 25th August, 1941, and they pleaded that there was an adjustment of the decree as a result of which the decree was not to be executed for a period of three years and thereafter payment of a smaller sum should be accepted in complete satisfaction. They also filed a counter to the main execution petition reiterating the same objections which they had set forth in their own application R.E.A. No. 602 of 1941. The executing Court decided against the judgment-debtors and dismissed their application R.E.A. No. 602 of 1941. This was on 26th January, 1942. The decree-holder thereupon proceeded with the execution. A sale was held on 11th April, 1942, but there were no bidders. The decree-holder, who appears to have obtained leave to bid, was apparently unwilling to bid at the figure fixed by way of upset price and so the sale became infructuous. Thereupon the Court passed this Order:

“No bidders. Sale stopped. Petition struck off.”

This was on 11th April, 1942. This was apparently the last working day of the term as the Court was closing for the summer recess immediately thereafter. The judgment-debtors had filed an appeal against the order dismissing their application R.E.A. No. 602 of 1941. This appeal A.S. No. 103 of 1942 was finally heard and dismissed by the appellate Court on 5th March, 1943. For some reason or other the decree-holder had taken no further steps in relation to his execution petition No. 411 of 1941, after the first sale, which proved infructuous. On 19th February, 1946, which is within three years from the date of the order in Appeal No. 103 of 1942, the decree-holder filed the present E.P. No. 150 of 1946 for recovery of Rs. 2,096 and odd by sale of the mortgaged property. The judgment-debtors pleaded that the decree was barred by limitation as the present application was more than three years from nth April, 1942, which, according to them, was the date when a final order was passed on the previous execution application No. 411 of 1941. Both the lower Courts have held against the decree-holder as in their view the order of nth April, 1942, was intended by the Court as finally terminating the execution proceedings so far as that Court was concerned. Although the Court did not use the word “dismissed” in the context the word “struck off” must be understood as meaning that the execution petition was dismissed. According to the lower Court the decree-holder, who had obtained permission to bid did not care to bid and there was apparently no request by him to adjourn the sale for another day, whether with or without fresh proclamation as the case may be. In these circumstances, the lower Courts were of the view that there was a final order on the previous execution petition No. 411 of 1941, and the present execution application, which is more than three years from that date of the final order, was barred by limitation. In their view the previous execution application was not pending, but finally disposed of on 11th April, 1942.

In the second appeal it is pointed out for the decree-holder that this view of the lower Courts is wrong. It is stated, that there was no default of the decree-holder at all and there was no request by the decree-holder either to have the petition dismissed, as not pressed. The words “No bidders, sale stopped, petition struck off” should be understood as merely amounting to an adjournment of the execution petition to be taken up later by the Court suo motu or by an application of the parties for r