Sikkim High Court
A. M. BHATTACHARJEE
Ashok Tshering Lama - Appellant
Versus
Tshering Wangdi - Respondent
Decided On : 03/08/1982
CIVIL PROCEDURE - REVISION - JURISDICTION - ERRORS OF FACT OR LAW - NOT ILLEGAL OR IRREGULAR EXERCISE OF JURISDICTION - REVISION NOT MAINTAINABLE - S.115, C.P.C.
Fact of the Case:
Petitioner filed a suit in the Civil Court, Gangtok, and applied for a temporary injunction. The Civil Judge issued notice to the respondent to show cause why the injunction should not be granted but declined to grant an ad interim injunction ex parte. The petitioner filed a revision petition challenging the order of the Civil Judge.
Finding of the Court:
The Court held that the impugned order of the Civil Judge did not involve any question of jurisdiction to attract the revisional jurisdiction under S.115 C.P.C. The Court further held that the mere fact that the decision is erroneous in fact or in law does not amount to illegal or irregular exercise of jurisdiction and that while exercising the revisional jurisdiction it is not competent to the High Court to correct errors of fact or law, however gross, unless the said errors have relation to the jurisdiction of the Court to try the dispute itself.
Issues: 1. Whether the impugned order of the Civil Judge involved any question of jurisdiction to attract the revisional jurisdiction under S.115 C.P.C.? 2. Whether the mere fact that the decision is erroneous in fact or in law amounts to illegal or irregular exercise of jurisdiction?
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The Court held that the impugned order of the Civil Judge did not involve any question of jurisdiction to attract the revisional jurisdiction under S.115 C.P.C. because the Civil Judge had perfect jurisdiction to grant or not to grant ad interim injunction ex parte and to issue notice to the opposite party before deciding the application for temporary injunction. 2. The Court held that the mere fact that the decision is erroneous in fact or in law does not amount to illegal or irregular exercise of jurisdiction and that while exercising the revisional jurisdiction it is not competent to the High Court to correct errors of fact or law, however gross, unless the said errors have relation to the jurisdiction of the Court to try the dispute itself.
Final Decision: The revision petition was dismissed.
ORDER :- The Civil Judge, Gangtok, on an application made lo him for a temporary injunction by the petitioner-plaintiff in a suit pending in high Court, has issued notice to the respondent-defendant to show cause why such an injunction shall not be granted, but has declined to grant any ad interim injunction ex parte. The petitioner-plaintiff seeks to assail the order in this revisional proceeding.
2. The impugned order having been passed on 27-8-81 and the present revision having been filed on 4-1-1982, the question that immediately arises is whether the revisional application is barred by limitation Mr. U.P. Sharma, the learned Advocate for the petitioner, has however, pointed out that the petitioner filed an appeal against the impugned order before the District Judge on 11-8-1981 (11-9-1981?) and the learned Judge has finally dismissed the appeal on 21-12-1981 on the ground that no such appeal lies. It is not disputed that if the time during which the appeal was pending before the District Court is excluded, the present revisional application would be perfectly within time. Mr. Sharma has urged that the petitioner preferred and prosecute the appeal before the District Court in good faith and with due diligence and, therefore, the time spent in pursuing the appeal is to be excluded in computing the period of limitation for this revision. It appears from the judgment of the learned District Judge that he finally dismissed the appeal, not on merits but, on the ground that an order refusing to grant an interim injunction ex parte and directing notice of the application for injunction to be issued lo the opposite party is not appealable and for this the learned Judge has relied on a single Judge decision of the Punjab High Court in Iqbal Singh v. Chanan Singh (AIR 1966 Punj 165). There are, however, direct decisions of a Division Bench of the Patna High Court in Shyam Behari Singh v. Biseswar Dayal Singh (AIR 1924 Pat 713), of a Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court in Sarju Prasad Singh v. Gangaprasad Shah (AIR 1951 Cal 446) and also a single Judge decision of the Calcutta High Court in Motilal Singh v. Shib Chandra Bose (1971-75 Cal WN 233) to which the attention of the learned District Judge does not appear to have been drawn and which are to the effect that an appeal from such order lies and is perfectly maintainable. None of these authorities noted above are binding on the Courts in Sikkim and there appears to be no decision of this Court or of the Supreme Court on this point. Therefore, even assuming that the learned District Judge was right in following the Punjab decision referred to hereinabove and in holding the appeal to be not maintainable, the petitioner and/or his learned counsel who filed the appeal before the District Court cannot be denied to have acted in good faith and with due diligence, if they acted under impression that such an appeal is maintainable, that being the view of at least two other High Courts, noted hereinabove. In fact Mr. Sharma who has appeared for the petitioner before me, has frankly confessed that the appeal was filed by him in the District Court on behalf of the petitioner under such impression as to its maintainability. This not having been disputed by Mr. Aggarwal, the learned Advocate for the Respondent, I need not wait for any affidavit to that effect either from the petitioner or from Mr. Sharma. Given good faith and due diligence for prosecuting such a civil proceeding between the same parties for the same relief, the time spent for the prosecution for such a proceeding should be excluded when such proceeding fails for bona fide mistake of law or procedure.
3. If it were necessary for me to decide the question, as to whether the appeal filed before the District Court was maintainable, I might have with respect, agreed with the view of the Patna and the Calcutta High Courts holding such appeal to be maintainable and dissented, with equal respect, from the P
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