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1954 Supreme(All) 97

HIGH COURT OF ALLAHBAD
BRIJ MOHAN LALL, J.
Brij Mohan Dixit
Versus
Gobardhan
Revn. No.465 of 1951
Decided On : 30-04-1954

Advocates:
Bishambhar Nath Misra, for Applicant; Gopalji Mehrotra, for Opposite Parties.

Headnote:

PRESENTATION TO MUNSARIM - Review Application - The court held that the application for review of judgment should be presented to the presiding officer and not to the Munsarim, as it was not the intention of the Legislature to permit the presentation of the petition of review to the Munsarim of the Court.

Fact of the Case:

The applicant filed a review application against an order passed by the District Judge, which was rejected on the grounds of improper presentation to the Munsarim instead of the presiding officer.

Finding of the Court:

The court found that the application for review of judgment should be presented to the presiding officer and not to the Munsarim, as it was not the intention of the Legislature to permit the presentation of the petition of review to the Munsarim of the Court.

Issues: The issue was whether the presentation of the review application to the Munsarim amounted to a substantial compliance with the law, and whether it was obligatory to present the petition for review to the Judge personally.

Ratio Decidendi: The court interpreted Order 47, Rule 1 and Rule 2 of the Civil Procedure Code, and compared it with other rules to conclude that the intention of the law was for the application to be presented to the presiding officer and not to the Munsarim.

Final Decision: The revision was dismissed with costs, as the court held that the application for review of judgment should be presented to the presiding officer and not to the Munsarim.

ORDER : - This is an application in revision by one Pandit Brij Mohan Dixit against an order passed by the learned District Judge of Banaras rejecting his application for review of judgment. The reason given by the learned Judge for throwing out the review application is that it was presented to the Munsarim and not to him (the Judge).

2. It is contended by the learned counsel for the applicant that it was not obligatory on the part of the applicant to present the petition for review to the Judge personally and that presentation to the Munsarim of the Court amounted to a substantial compliance with law. I have, therefore, to examine how far presentation to Munsarim is permitted by law.

3. Order 47, R.1, Civil P.C., lays down that in certain given circumstances and on grounds specified in the said rule any person considering himself aggrieved by a decree or order of a Court may apply for a review of judgment "to the Court which passed the decree or made the order."

Rule 2 imposes further restrictions on the right of presentation of such petitions and lays down that except in certain given circumstances the application for review must be presented to the very Judge who passed the order or made the decree sought to be reviewed. If the learned Judge has been transferred or has, for any other reason, quitted office no petition of the kind contemplated by R. 2 can be presented at all.

What is significant is that there is no indication in either of these two Rules that presentation can be made to any other officer of the Court as distinct from the presiding officer. Whenever it is the intention of the law that presentation to a ministerial officer should be deemed sufficient it has expressly said so.

For instance, it is provided by O.21, R.10 that an applicant for execution of decree "shall apply to the Court which passed the decree or to the officer (if any) appointed in this behalf."

The words "officer (if any) appointed in this behalf" do not find place either in R.1 or R.2 of O.47. By a comparison of the language of O.21, R.10 with the language of Rr.1 and 2 of O.47 one is driven unmistakably to the conclusion that it was not the intention of the law to permit presentation of review application before the Munsarim.

4. Reference may also be made in this connection to the language of O.16, R.1 where it is laid down that the parties may obtain "on application to the Court or to such officer as it appoints in this behalf" summonses for attendance of witnesses. The language of this Rule also indicates that wherever the Legislature intended to permit the presentation of any particular application to the Munsarim it has expressly said so.

Again one finds that O.4, R.1, Civil P.C., permits the presentation of a plaint "to the Court or such officer as it appoints in this behalf." Order 41, R.1 enables the appellant to present a memorandum of appeal "to the Court or to such officer as it appoints in this behalf." The absence of similar clauses in Rr.1 and 2 of O.47 is not without significance.

A comparison of the language of these Rules leads to the irresistible conclusion that it was never the intention of the Legislature to permit the presentation of the petition of review to the Munsarim of the Court. Such application should be presented, as laid down in R.1 of O.47 "to the Court."

5. In the case of - Munro v. Kanpur Municipal Board, 12 All 57 (A) it was held at p.59 that "the application (for review) should have been presented to the Judge and not to the Munsarim." It is true that no reason was given in support of the above proposition but the fact remains that the view taken by a Divisional Bench of this Court was to the effect that presentation to Munsarim was not proper presentation of an application for review of judgment.

6. Learned counsel for the applicant has drawn my attention to the case of - Ganga Prasad v. Mst. Saroop Dei, AIR 1951 All 568 (B), in which P.L. Bhargava, J. made certain remarks which militate against this view. But it m




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