JUDGMENT

Satish Chandra, J. - This First Appeal is valued at Rs. 12,883/- both for the purpose of court-fees as well as for jurisdiction. It was heard and disposed of by a Division Bench on 10th July, 1963. The matter was taken up in appeal to the Supreme Court, which on 15th April, 1969, allowed the appeal, set aside the decree of the High Court and remanded the appeal back to the High Court with a direction that the High Court will admit the appeal to its original number and hear and dispose it of according to law. After remand, the appeal was listed before a learned Single judge, who on 24th September, 1971 felt that the appeal having once been heard by a Division Bench, now on remand by the Supreme Court it must be heard and decided by a Division Bench again. In view of this order, the appeal has been placed before us for hearing.

2. On 27th September, 1969, sub-Cl. (aa) was added to Cl. (ii) of R. 2 of Ch. V of the Rules of Court. It states:--

A civil first appeal instituted before the commencement of the U.P. Civil Laws Amendment Act of 1968 from a decree including an appeal arising out of a case instituted in a revenue Court in which the value of appeal for the purpose of jurisdiction does not exceed twenty thousand rupees.

This sub-clause relates to a procedural matter, namely allotment of work to Single Judges and Division Bench. Its effect is that the all appeals mentioned in it and pending on or after 27-9-1969, will be heard and disposed of by a Judge sitting alone. Ch. V, R. 8 provides that save otherwise provided by these Rules or other law or by any general or special order of the Chief Justice, every other case shall be heard and disposed of by a Bench of two Judges. So with effect from 27th September, 1969, when sub-Cl. (aa) came into force, civil first appeal instituted before the commencement of the U.P. Civil Laws Amendment Act, 1968, and in which the valuation for the purpose of jurisdiction does not exceed Rs. 20,000/-, can be heard and disposed of by a judge sitting alone. In view of R. 8, such appeals cannot be heard by a Division Bench unless there is a general or special order of the Chief Justice. There is no such general or special order of the Chief Justice in the present case. The present appeal was instituted in 1953, i.e., prior to the commencement of the amending Act of 1968. Its value did not exceed Rs. 20,000/-. With effect from 27th September, 1969, Single Judge jurisdiction was increased to Rs. 20,000/- and Division Bench jurisdiction was extinguished to that extent. With effect from that date, a Division Bench cannot take cognizance of an appeal valued at less than Rs. 20,000/-. In the circumstances, the present appeal is cognizable only by a Single Judge of this Court.

3. When the appeal was heard by this Court on 10-7-1963, it was, under the Rules as they stood, cognizable by a Bench. Now the change in Rules makes this appeal a Single Judge matter. We are not aware of any principle or authority that once an appeal has been heard by a Division Bench, it must again be so heard in disregard of the relevant rules. Let the appeal be laid before the appropriate Single Judge, at an early date.