IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADRAS
Mockett, J.
Madipalli Venkatachellam
Versus
Madipalli Suryanarayanamurty and Ors.
Decided On : 16.08.1939
Mockett, J.
1. Defendant 1 is the appellant. He is the son of one Chelamiah who died on 15fch October 1925 at a great age. Defendant 2 is the brother of defendant 1 and the plaintiff is the third brother. The following facts were stated from the bar and were accepted. In April or October 1917 - at this stage it is not necessary to be more precise about the date - the family became divided in status. In 1920, defendant 2 filed, but subsequently withdrew, a suit for partition, but on 22nd May 1921 there was a muchilika entered into between the parties with a view to dividing the property. On that there was a reference to arbitration by the plaintiff and the defendants and it is on that reference that this matter comes before this Court, having been first of all decided by the District Judge of East Godavari. That is all that is necessary at present with regard to the facts, because what is now being dealt with may be called a preliminary point. It can be shortly stated. Mr. V.V. Srinivasa Iyengar for defendant 1 has raised a point which was referred to but not decided by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Ramlal Hargopal v. Kishanchand (24) 11 A.I.R. 1924 . The point in question is dealt with by Lord Phillimore at p. 372. His Lordship said:
It was contended on behalf of the appellant that if an award relates to more than one subject-matter and only one is within the jurisdiction of the Court, it cannot be filed in that Court; in fact, that it can be filed in no Court, because no one Court would have jurisdiction over the whole subject-matter. Their Lordships deem it unnecessary to rest their judgment on any such general proposition.
2. Lord Phillimore went on to point out why it was unnecessary to decide that point. His reason was this, namely, that it was evident to their Lordships that the property concerned in the case before them was property wholly outside British India and that in the words of their Lordships there was no dispute concerning the ownership and management of properties within the jurisdiction. It must, therefore, be emphasised in that case that what was before the lower Court was an application under para. 20, of Schedule 2, Civil P.C., relating to property wholly outside the jurisdiction of the Courts of British India. What is the procedure set out in Schedule 2? Clause 20 is headed "arbitration without the intervention of a Court" and it says:
Where any matter has been referred to arbitration without the intervention of a Court, and an award has been made thereon, any person interested in the award may apply to any Court having jurisdiction over the subject-matter of the award that the award be filed in Court.
3. And in the case to which I have just referred there was an application to the Court to file an award with regard to property wholly outside British India. In this case it is not necessary to say more than this, that admittedly this award dealt with property and part of it was immovable property within the jurisdiction of the District fudge of East Godavari and part of it outside his jurisdiction, as that term is ordinarily understood. Mr. Srinivasa Iyengar has argued before us exactly the point that was referred to by Lord Phillimore. His argument is that Clause 20 of Schedule 2 to the Code states that the person interested in the award may apply to any Court having jurisdiction over the subject-matter of the award and that means "to a Court having jurisdiction over the whole of the subject-matter of the award" and that, as admittedly part of the subject-matter of this award is situated outside East Godavari judicial district, the District Judge had no jurisdiction. And Mr. Srinivasa Iyengar has also not recoiled from the position that no Judge had any jurisdiction to make an order under Clause 20 in regard to this matter, because once it is conceded that the subject-matter is in more than one jurisdiction, it must follow that no Judge in any one jurisdiction can have jurisdiction ov
gpt-4
Login now and unlock free premium legal research
Login to SupremeToday AI and access free legal analysis, AI highlights, and smart tools.
Login
now!
India’s Legal research and Law Firm App, Download now!
Copyright © 2023 Vikas Info Solution Pvt Ltd. All Rights Reserved.