SATISH CHANDRA, J. :- In this and the connected applications, the applicants prayed that the first appeal pending in the Court of the District Judge concerned may be withdrawn and disposed of by this Court under Section 24(1)(b), Civil P.C. At the hearing of these applications, a learned Single Judge felt that there was a conflict between two Division Bench decisions. He referred the applications to a Full Bench.

2. The first appeals involved in these applications were instituted in the High Court and were pending disposal here. The U.P. Civil Laws Amendment Act, 1970, came into force on 8th April, 1970. Section 4 amended Section 21 of the Bengal, Agra and Assam Civil Courts Act, 1887. It provided:

"4. Amendment of Section 21 of Act XII of 1887.- In Section 21 of the Bengal Agra and Assam Civil Courts Act, 1887, as amended in its application to Uttar Pradesh (hereinafter referred to as the Bengal, Agra and Assam Civil Courts Act), for sub-section (1), the following sub-sections shall be substituted, namely:-

(1) Save as aforesaid, an appeal from a decree or order of a Civil Judge shall lie-

(a) to the District Judge where the value of the original suit in which or in any proceeding arising out of which, the decree or order was made, whether instituted or commenced or decided before or after the commencement of the Uttar Pradesh Civil Laws Amendment Act, 1968 (President's Act XXXV of 1968), was less than twenty thousand rupees; and

(b) to the High Court in any other case.

(1-A) An appeal from a decree or order of a Civil Judge where the value of the original suit in which, or in. any proceeding arising out of which, the decree or order was made exceeded ten thousand rupees but was less than twenty thousand rupees instituted in the High Court before the date of commencement of the Uttar Pradesh Civil Laws Amendment Act, 1970, and pending in the High Court immediately before the said date, not being an appeal in which arguments have been concluded before the said date and only judgment disposing of the appeal remains to be pronounced, shall stand transferred to the District Judge having jurisdiction who may either decide it himself or assign it to any Additional Judge subordinate to him.

(1-B) The period of limitation prescribed for filing an appeal from a decree or order of a Civil Judge where the value of the original suit in which, or in any proceeding arising out of which, the decree or order was made exceeded ten thousand rupees but was less than twenty thousand rupees and the decree or order was made before December 2, 1968, shall, notwithstanding anything in the Limitation Act, 1963 (Act XXXVI of 1963) be deemed to be and always to have been the same as if the appeal continued to lie to the High Court."

3. The effect of the Amending Act was that henceforth appeals of valuation of less than twenty thousand rupees lay to the District Judge. By sub-sec.(1-A) all appeals pending in the High Court, of the valuation between Rs.10,000/- and Rs.20,000/- stood transferred to the District Judge concerned. The only exception engrafted to this wholesale transfer was for appeals in which arguments had been concluded before the date the Amending Act came into force, namely before 8th April, 1970, and only the judgment disposing of the appeal remained to be pronounced.

4. Section 24(1), Civil Procedure Code confers power of transfer and withdrawal on the High Court as well as the District Court. Under sub-clause (a) the High Court or the District Court can transfer any suit, appeal or other proceeding pending before it to any Court subordinate to it for trial or disposal; whereas, under clause (b), the High Court or the District Court can withdraw any suit, appeal or other proceeding pending disposal in any Court subordinate to it and try or dispose of the same itself, or transfer the same to any subordinate Court for trial or disposal.

5. It will be seen that under sub-clause (a) of Section 24(1) the High Court has the discretionary powe