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1957 Supreme(All) 40

IN THE HIGH COURT OF ALLAHABAD
Desai, J.
PHUL KUMARI - Appellant
Versus
STATE - Respondents
Civil Revn. 886 Of 1954
Decided On : 01/31/1957

Advocates Appeared:
SHANTI BHUSHAN, V.P.MISRA

Headnote:

ZAMINDARI ABOLITION AND LAND REFORMS ACT - Compensation Officer - Not a Court subordinate to the High Court - Revision under Section 115, C. P. C. , not maintainable.

Fact of the Case:

The applicant, an intermediary, filed an objection against the draft compensation assessment roll prepared by the compensation officer under the Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act. The compensation officer impleaded the opposite party, a tenant, as a party in the compensation proceedings suo motu. The applicant objected to the impleading of the opposite party, but the compensation officer refused to cancel his order. The applicant then filed an application under Section 115, C. P. C. , for revision of the compensation officer's order.

Finding of the Court:

The compensation officer is not a Court subordinate to the High Court within the meaning of Section 115, C. P. C. , and therefore, the revision application is not maintainable.

Issues: Whether the compensation officer is a Court subordinate to the High Court within the meaning of Section 115, C. P. C.

Ratio Decidendi: 1. The compensation officer is a special court created under the Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, and is different from civil courts created under the Bengal and Assam Civil Courts Act. 2. The word "subordinate" in Section 115, C. P. C. , is used in the second sense, meaning "subservient to, or under the authority of". 3. A Court is subordinate to a High Court only if it is subservient to, or under the authority of, the High Court. 4. The compensation officer is not subservient to, or under the authority of, the High Court, and therefore, is not a Court subordinate to the High Court.

Final Decision: The application under Section 115, C. P. C. , is dismissed.

DESAI, J.

( 1 ) THIS is an application under Section 115, C. P. C. , for revision of an order passed by a compensation officer under the Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act (No. I of 1951 ). The applicant is the intermediary, who is entitled to compensation for the loss of her proprietary rights. The compensation payable to her is being assessed by the compensation officer, who prepared a draft compensation assessment roll. The applicant filed an objection against it on two grounds one of which was that the rental value had been under-estimated. One of her tenants is the opposite-party No. 2, the Upper Ganges Sugar Mills Limited. The dispute before the compensation officer was at what rent the land let out to the opposite-party should be assessed. It has obtained a Sanad for bhumidhari rights. The applicant informed the compensation officer that she had applied to Government for cancellation of its Sanad and her application was pending. Thereupon the compensation officer suo motu impleaded it as a party in the compensation proceedings. A notice was issued to the opposite-party which appeared and objected to its being impleaded contending that it had no concern with the amount of compensation payable to the applicant and that it was unnecessarily impleaded. The applicant also objected to the impleading of the opposite-party but the compensation officer refused to cancel his order. Now she wants his order to be set aside under section 115, C. P. C.


( 2 ) THE question is whether Section 115, C. P. C. , at all applies. Under it a High Court may call for a record of any case decided "by any Court subordinate to such High Court and in which no appeal lies thereto" and may make such order in the case as it thinks fit if the subordinate Court has exercised jurisdiction not vested in it or exceeded it or exercised it with material irregularity. The compensation officer is at present deciding objections under Section 48 of the Zamindari abolition and Land Reforms Act. Any objection decided by him is deemed to be a decree of a civil court under Section 49. Undoubtedly he acts as a court when disposing of the objections. Under Section 48 he has all the powers of a civil court and is required to follow the procedure laid down in the Code of Civil procedure for the hearing and disposal of suits relating to immovable property. This provision would not by itself make Section 115, C. P. C. , applicable to any order passed by him; he has all the powers of a civil court but is not made subject to all the liabilities to which a civil court is liable under the Code. Only those provisions of the Code that relate to the hearing and disposal of suits are made applicable to the proceedings before him. But even if Section 115 of the Code were to be applied, it would have to be applied as it stands and this Court would have jurisdiction to interfere with an order passed by him only if he were a court sub-ordinate to this Court. His is a special court creaed under the Zamindari Abolition Act and different from civil courts created under the Bengal and Assam. Civil Courts Act (No. XII of 1887 ). Civil courts in this State are only those civil courts that have been created under the bengal and Assam Civil Courts Act. All those courts are under the administrative control of the District Judge subject to the superintendence of the High Court, vide Section 9. They have ordinary and appellate jurisdictions mentioned in Chapter III of the Act. It is provided in Section 20 that an appeal from a decree of a District Judge shall lie to the High Court and in Section 21 that an appeal from a decree or order of a Munsif shall lie to the District Judge. The words "immediately subordinate" are used in Section 38, and which courts are immediately subordinate to which courts for the purposes of Section 38 is stated in Section 39. The court of a Compensation Officer is created under Section 319 of the Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, and it is to exercise th




















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