Wadsworth, J.

1. This civil revision petition raises a question regarding the effect of Section 23 of Madras Act IV of 1938 on which there appears to be no decided case. The sale which the petitioner sought to set aside was held on the 29th March, 1938, that is to say, just one week after Act IV of 1938 came into force. Section 23 applies in terms to sales held on or after the 1st October, 1937 and the only future limit which is expressly laid down relates to the date within which an application is to be made, which is within 90 days of the commencement of the Act. It is argued that within these 90 days any judgment-debtor entitled to the benefits of the Act may apply for a sale to be set aside even though that sale has been held after the Act came into force. The only materials for deciding whether this view of the section is correct or not are the use of the tenses in the terms of the section and the alternative provisions found in the Act to relieve agriculturists whose property is brought to sale after the commencement of the Act. The essential words of Section 23 are:

where in execution of any decree any immovable property, in which an agriculturist had an interest, has