An order is final if it finally disposes of the rights of the parties. A proceeding is a "civil proceeding" if it pertains to the private rights of the contestants.

1. The petitioner Kehar Singh has made an application under Sections 109 and 110, and Order 45, Rules 2 and 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court against the order of the Division Bench in Letters Patent Appeal No. 115 of 1956, dated 25-2-1957. Brief facts of this case are that the petitioner Kehar Singh was allotted 83 standard acres and 12 1/4 units of land on quasi permanent basis in February 1950 in village Kirtowal in District Amritsar. Arjan Singh was an allottee of a slightly bigger area, viz., 34 standard acres and 8 1/2 units of land in the same village and on this ground he was ousted from the village under orders of the authorised Deputy Custodian on 6-11-1951.

The Additional Custodian (Rural) rejected the revision petition of Arjan Singh by his order dated 6-8-1952. The Deputy Custodian General, in exercise of his powers under Section 21 of the Administration of Evacuee Property Act, set aside the order of the Additional Custodian on 1-2-1954 & directed that Kehar Singh was in fact the bigger of the two allottees & he Should be ousted from the village. The reason why the Deputy Custodian General reversed the decision of the Additional Custodian was that during the pendency of the appeal Kehar Singh was allotted an additional 1 acre and 1 1/2 units and, therefore, in fact, he became bigger of the two allottees,

2. Kehar Singh presented a petition under Arts. 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India for the issue of an appropriate writ to the respondents of the effect that his possession should not be disturbed and the order of the Deputy Custodian General dated 1-2-1954, should not be given effect to. The learned single Judge by his order dated 21-9-1956 allowed the petition and quashed the order of the Deputy Custodian General. Arjan Singh presented an appeal under Clause 10 of the Letters Patent.

The Letters Patent Bench allowed the appeal holding that it was within the competence of the Deputy Custodian General to set aside the order evicting appellant Arjan Singh from the village and directing that the respondent Kehar Singh should be evict-ed instead. The Bench held that the Deputy Custodian General in passing that order did not decline to assume jurisdiction in the case or to pronounce upon the matter in controversy between the parties. It was also held that he did not exceed his jurisdiction and did not act in violation of the principles of natural justice and his order was within the ambit of his discretionary powers.

3. In this petition the counsel for the petitioner has prayed that this Court should grant a certificate as contemplated in Article 133 of the Constitution. During the course of argument it was conceded by him that he did not seek certificate under sub-clauses (a) or (c), but only under Sub-clause (b) of Clause 1 of Article 133 on the ground that the judgment, decree or final order of the Letters Patent Bench involved directly or indirectly some claim or question respecting property not less than Rs. 20,000/- in value. On behalf of the respondent it was said that the petitioner was not entitled to a certificate under sub-Clause (b). It was also urged that neither the order of this Court was final nor was it made in a civil proceeding. The latter contention may be examined first.

4. In a Full Bench decision of Patna High Court in Collector of Monghyr v. Pratap Singh Bahadur, (S) AIR 1957 Pat 102, it was held that proceeding in the High Court for grant of a writ under Article 226 of the Constitution was not a "civil proceeding" within the meaning of Article 133 of the Constitution, and the petitioner against whom a writ has been issued has no right of appeal to the Supreme Court under that Article.

The reasoning of the learned Judges constituting the Full Bench was, that the jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 226 was an extraordinary jurisdiction, vested in it, not for the purpose of declaring the civil rights of the parties but for the purpos