An order passed by the trial court under S. 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act is not appealable as S. 28 of the Act has been amended by S. 19 of the Marriage Laws (Amendment) Act, 1976, and the right of appeal against orders under S. 24 of the Act has been taken away.

1. This is a petition for revision of the order of the Court of Shri Baldev Singh, Subordinate Judge First Class, Jullundur, dated Sept. 9. 1976, under S. 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act (25 of 1955) (hereinafter called the Act) allowing the petitioner a sum of Rs. 80 as litigation expenses and Rs. 50 per mensem as maintenance pendente lite during the pendency of the respondent s petition under S. 9 of the Act. The learned counsel for the husband raises a preliminary objection to the effect that the order passed by the trial Court under S. 24 of the Act is appealable under Section 28 thereof, and, therefore, the revision petition cannot be entertained. There is no doubt that S. 28 of the original Act provided that all decrees or orders passed by the Court in any proceeding under the Act would be appealable, but by S. 19 of the Marriage Laws (Amendment) Act, 1976, the following section has been substituted in place of original S. 28:-

"(1) All decrees made by the court in any proceeding under this Act shall, subject to the provisions of sub-sec. (3), be appealable as decrees of the court made in the exercise of its original civil jurisdiction, and every such appeal shall lie to the court to which appeals ordinarily lie from the decisions of the court given in the exercise of its original civil jurisdiction.

(2) Orders made by the court in any proceeding under this Act under S. 25 or S. 26 shall, subject to the provisions of sub-sec. (3) be appealable if they are not interim orders, and every such appeal shall lie to the court to which appeals ordinarily lie from the decisions of the court given in exercise of its original civil jurisdiction.

(3) There shall be no appeal under this section on the subject of costs only.

(4) Every appeal under this section shall be preferred within a period of thirty days from the date of the decree or order."

The plain language of the above-quoted provisions clearly shows that an appeal now lies only against three kinds of orders under the Act, namely (i) where a decree is passed; (ii) where a final order is made in respect of permanent alimony under S. 25 or (iii) for the custody of minor children under S. 26. Right to appeal is not an inherent right, but is a statutory right which can be conferred only by law enacted by the competent Legislature. The right of appeal having been restricted by S. 19 of the amending Act, the right originally residing in any person aggrieved of an order under S. 24 of the Act to prefer appeal against the same has now been taken away. So far as the applicability of the old or new S. 28 of the Act is concerned, the position is settled by S. 39 of the amending Act which provides as below:-

"(1) All petitions and proceedings in causes and matters matrimonial which are pending in any court at the commencement of the Marriage Laws (Amendment) Act, 1976, shall be dealt with and decided by such court- (i) if it is a petition or proceeding under the Hindu Marriage Act, then so far as may be, as if it had been originally instituted therein under the Hindu Marriage Act, as amended by this Act;

(ii) if it is a petition or proceeding under the Special Marriage Act, then so far as may be, as if it had been originally instituted therein under the Special Marriage Act, as amended by this Act.

(2) In every petition or proceeding to which sub-sec. (1) applies, the court in which the petition or proceeding is pending shall give an opportunity to the parties to amend the pleadings, insofar as such amendment is necessary to give effect to the provisions of sub-sec. (1), within such time as it may allow in this behalf and any such amendment may include an amendment for conversion of a petition or proceeding for judicial separation into a petition or proceeding, as the case may be, for divorce."

The amending Act came into force on May 27, 1976. The order under revision was passed on Sept. 9, 1976. On the date when the order under revision was passed any person aggrieved thereby had