An appeal lies against an order transferring a suit if it decides substantive matters in issue affecting the rights and entitlements of the litigating parties in the suit itself.

MASODKAR, J.:- This Letters Patent Appeal is directed against the order made by the learned single Judge of this Court in the proceedings which were initially filed by writ petition bearing Writ Petition No. 1835 of 1981 and which came to be renumbered as Miscellaneous Civil Application No. 9 of 1982. The proceedings taken before the learned single Judge of this Court, initially invoking the constitutional jurisdiction and, thereafter, the powers of the Court under section 24 C. P. C., 1908, relate to a suit filed by the respondent in the Court of Small Causes at Bombay bearing R. A. B. and R. suit No. 627/2240 of 1980. By the impugned order, the said suit has been transferred from the Court of Mr. S.B. Desai, J. to any other Judge of the Court of Small Causes. The appellants are the defendants in that suit.

2. It appears and it is not in dispute that before the learned single Judge of this Court, the whole proceedings of the said suit were put in question so as to show that the plaintiff-suitor harboured reasonable apprehension that he would not get justice from the Court of Mr. S.B. Desai. It further appears that considerable time was occupied of the learned single Judge in perusing the proceedings right from the stage of pleadings, issues, evidence and what transpired in the Court before the trial Court at various stages. After considering all this material at great length and in details, an order is made holding in favour of the respondent and directing transfer of the suit from the Court of Mr. S.B. Desai to any other Court.

3. Thus, in pith and substance, the order before us is one that of transfer of a suit, within the meaning of S.24, C. P. C., or corresponding provisions of Cl.18, Letters Patent.

4. That being the position, the first and preliminary objection raised on behalf of the defending respondent is to the tenability of the appeal. On the strength of two decisions of the Supreme Court reported in the cases of Asrumati Debi v. Rupendra Deb, AIR 1953 SC 198; and Shah Babulal Khimji v. Jayaben, AIR 1981 SC 1786, Mr. Hegde contended that the entire appeal was not maintainable. As far as several findings recorded by the learned Judge in the course of the judgment, the learned counsel submitted that those findings are merely in the nature of obiter or observations so as to find out as to whether the plaintiff was justified in contending that he had reasonable apprehensions of not getting fair trial before the concerned Court

5. As against this, for the appellants, Mr. Abhyankar contended that had the matter rested only at that as is pointed out by Mt. Hegde, the decisions of the Supreme Court would render the present appeal untenable. However, Mr. Abhyankar's contention is that the present judgment under challenge at least an three matters independently of the relief of transfer, one way or the other, concludes the rights of the parties. The learned counsel submits that to the extent the judgment purports to conclude the rights and entitlements of the parties with regard to matters in the pending suit, the judgment would be appealable.

6. These three aspects according to the learned counsel consist of determining the question with regard to the issues between the parties and setting aside the order made in that regard by the Court at an anterior date, determining as to whether the record of evidence as was made by the learned Judge and which was sought to be corrected before the learned Judge, but without success, was correct or not and the passing of an order thereon; and thirdly findings with regard to the conduct of the counsel Mr. S.B. Gandhi, advocate, who appeared for the defendants before the trial Court. On each of these matters, the learned counsel contends that the rights and entitlements of the parties have been decided and, therefore, the appeal questioning these matters to that extent would be tenable. In his submission, the order is not simple order of transfer but multiple order determining matters