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1951 Supreme(All) 25

IN THE HIGH COURT OF ALLAHABAD
Ghulam Hasan, J.
MOHD.MUSHTAQ - Appellant
Versus
MT.BAQRIDAN - Respondents
First Appeal 49 Of 1948
Decided On : 02/06/1951

Advocates Appeared:
AKHTAR HUSSAIN, NAZIRUDDIN

The valuation of the plaintiffs share in a partition suit determines the jurisdiction of the Court for purposes of appeal.

Headnote:

SUITS VALUATION ACT - JURISDICTION - APPEAL - VALUATION OF PLAINTIFFS SHARE - SECTION 4, SUITS VALUATION (UNITED PROVINCES AMENDMENT) ACT NO. VII [7] OF 1939 - SECTION 11, SUITS VALUATION ACT NO. VII [7] OF 1887 - SECTION 39, OUDH COURTS ACT - The valuation of the plaintiffs share in a partition suit determines the jurisdiction of the Court for purposes of appeal.

Fact of the Case:

The plaintiff filed a suit for partition of three pies share out of sixteen annas, valuing the entire property at Rs. 23,000 and his share at Rs. 359-6-0. The civil Judge dismissed the suit, and the plaintiff appealed to the High Court.

Finding of the Court:

The High Court held that the appeal should have been filed in the Court of the District Judge, as the valuation of the plaintiffs share was below Rs. 5,000, and the High Court did not have jurisdiction to entertain the appeal.

Issues: Whether the appeal lay to the District Judge or to the High Court.

Ratio Decidendi: Section 4 of the Suits Valuation (United Provinces Amendment) Act No. VII [7] of 1939 provides that a suit for partition shall be valued for purposes of jurisdiction at the market value of the property involved. Section 11 of the Suits Valuation Act No. VII [7] of 1887 bars an objection to the jurisdiction of a Court of first instance or lower appellate Court which had not jurisdiction with respect to the suit or appeal exercised jurisdiction with respect thereto unless the objection was taken in the Court of first instance or, in the lower appellate Court as the case may be. Section 39 of the Oudh Courts Act provides that an appeal from a decree of a civil Judge lies to the Court of the District Judge.

Final Decision: The High Court directed that the appeal be returned to the appellant for presentation to the proper Court, the Court of the District Judge.

GHULAM HASAN, J.

( 1 ) THIS appeal was filed on 10-7-1948, against the judgment and decree of the civil Judge, bahraich dated 9-2-1948, dismissing the plaintiffs suit. An application was made (civil Misc. Appln. No. 883 of 1960) on 16-8-1950, by the respondents challenging the maintainability of the appeal in this Court and praying that the preliminary point about jurisdiction should be decided first in order to save time and cost to parties The ground of the application is that the plaintiffs suit was ore for partition of three pies share out of sixteen annas. The entire property was valued in the plaint at Rs. 23,000 and the plaintiffs share at Rs. 359-6-0. In view of the valuation put by the plaintiff on his claim for partition the appeal, according to the respondents contention, lay to the District Judge and not to this Court. Reliance is placed upon the provisions of Section 4, suits Valuation (United Provinces Amendment) Act No. VII [7] of 1939. That section lays down that certain suits including a suit under VI A of Section 7, Court fees Act, 1870, which is a suit for partition, shall be valued for the purposes of jurisdiction at the market value of the property involved in or affected by or the title to which is affected by the relief sought, or at the amount involved in or affected by or the title to which is affected by the relief sought, and such value shall, in the case of land, be deemed to be the value as determinable in accordance with the rules framed under Section 3. There can be no doubt that according to Section 4, the suit for partition must be valued for purposes of jurisdiction according to the share of the plaintiff. This was so held in an unreported case on 14-10-1949 by a Bench of this Court in Muneshwar Bakhsh v. Shrimati Chhoti, First civil No. 131 of 1943. That decision is binding and there can be no question that that is the correct view of law. The plaintiffs share was valued in the plaint at Rs. 359 6 0 and ordinarily that suit should have been filed in the Court of the Munsiff but no objection was taken, in the trial Court upon this point. The case proceeded to trial and the civil judge dismissed the plaintiffs suit. An appeal against that decree lay to the Court of the District judge for the value of the original suit did not exceed Rs. 5,000. (See Section 39, Oudh Courts act ). In the appeal filed in this Court the valuation of the appeal was the same as the valuation in the trial Court. It is urged on behalf of the appellant that though the view of law that the plaintiffs share determines the jurisdiction cannot be contested, it is not open to the respondents in view of Section 11. Suits Valuation Act VII [7] of 1887 to raise the question of jurisdiction which they had not raised in the Court of first instance. The respondents failure to raise the question of jurisdiction to the effect that the suit should have been filed in the Court of the munsif and not in the Court of the civil Judge, it is contended, precludes the respondents from challenging the maintainability of the appeal in this Court. Reliance is placed in support of this contention on Tara Chand v. Collector of Aligarh, 1989 R. D. 882 and Kanhaiya Lal v. Hamid ali, 1940 Oudh W. N. 462. All that Section 11 lays down is that an objection that by reason of the over valuation or under valuation of a suit or appeal a Court of first instance or lower appellate Court which had not jurisdiction with respect to the suit or appeal exercised jurisdiction with respect thereto shall not be entertained by an appellate Court unless the objection was taken in the Court of first instance or, in the lower appellate Court as the case may be. The object of this provision is to prevent the party from raising the objection to the jurisdiction of the Court of first instance or the lower appellate Court which he had not raised in those Courts at the proper time, but no such objection is raised here by the respondents. It is not contended on their behalf





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