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1993 DIGILAW 197 (GAU)

Manoharmayum Bimal Sharma v. Secretary, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAB)

1993-08-12

S.K.HOMCHAUDHURI

body1993
Heard Mr. M. Bimal Sharma in person, and Mr. A. Jagatchandra Singh, Jearned Additional Govt. Advocate, 2. In this application under section 115 CPC, the petitioner has impugned the order dated 26.6.91, admitting appeal registered as Civil Appeal No. 3 of 1993, preferred against the judgment and decree dated 7.4.93 passed by the learned Subordinate Judge II, Manipur in Original Suit No. 53 of 1990. Petitioner's contention is that the suit was valued at Rs. 5.100/- and, that under section 32 of the Manipur (Courts) Act, 1956 (Act 56 of 1955) at the material time of institution of the suit in the year 1990, appeal from a decree or order of Munsiff and of a Subordinate Judge in any suit value of which did not exceed Rs. 5.000/- lay before the Court of the District Judge and in all other cases to the High Court. The suit being valued at Rs. 5,100/-, appeal against the judgment and decree passed by the learned Subordinate Judge in Original Suit No. 53 of 1990 lies in the High Court and the learned District Judge has no jurisdiction to entertain the appeal. Other contentions of the petitioner are that; (1) learned District Judge erred in law in passing the ex-parte order of staying the execution of the Decree; and (2) the appeal is bad for non-joinder of necessary parties. 3. In support of the contention that the value of the suit being Rs. 5.100/-, the learned District Judge has no jurisdiction to entertain the appeal. The petitioner has submitted that although by Manipur Act 5 of 1992, section 32 of the Manipur (Courts) Act 1955 has been amended conferring the jurisdi­ction of the District Judge to entertain appeal against the judgment and decree passed in a suit valued upto Rs. 50.000/-, the amendment having come into force with effect from 16.12.92 and not being retrospective, the vested right accrued with the institution of the suit to prefer appeal before the High Court against the judgment and decree of the suit has not been taken away by the amendment of section 32 of the Manipur (Courts) Act. 50.000/-, the amendment having come into force with effect from 16.12.92 and not being retrospective, the vested right accrued with the institution of the suit to prefer appeal before the High Court against the judgment and decree of the suit has not been taken away by the amendment of section 32 of the Manipur (Courts) Act. The petitioner has submitted that it is well settled by a catena of decisions of the Supreme Court that right of appeal is not a mere matter of procedure but a substantive right and the right of appeal to enter superior Court accrues to the litigant and exists on as and from the date the lis commences although it may be exercised when the adverse judgment is pronounced at a later date. Apparently by Manipur Act, 5 of 1992, vested right to appeal in respect of a suit instituted in 19-JO has not been taken away. In support of the contention, the petitioner has placed reliance on the following decisions of the Hon'hle Supreme Court M/s Ganpat Rai Hiralal & another vs. The Aggarwal Chamber of Commerce Ltd., reported in AIR 1952 SC 409 ; (2) HK Dada 'India) Ltd. vs. The State of Madhya Pradesh & others, reported in AIR 1953 Supreme Court 221; (3) Daji Saheb & others vs. Shankar Rao Vithalrao Mane & another, reported in AIR 1956 SC 29 ; (4) Indira Sohanlal vs. Custodian of Evacuee Property, Delhi & others, reported in AIR 1956 SC 77 ; (5) Garikapati Veeraya vs. N. Subbiah Choudhury & others, reported in AIR 1957 SC 540 . 4. In the case of M/s Ganpat Rai Hiralal (supra) the Hon'ble Supreme Court has held that a person could not be deprived of his vested right of appeal by a subsequent change in the law, unless the later enactment provided expressly or by necessary implication for retrospective effect being given. 5. In the case of M/s MR Dada (India) Ltd. (supra) the Hon'ble Supreme Court held : "a right of appeal is not merely a matter of procedure. It is a matter of substantive right. The right of appeal from the decision of an inferior tri­bunal to a superior tribunal becomes vested in a party when proceedings are first initiated in and before a decision is given by, the inferior Court." 6. It is a matter of substantive right. The right of appeal from the decision of an inferior tri­bunal to a superior tribunal becomes vested in a party when proceedings are first initiated in and before a decision is given by, the inferior Court." 6. Similar view has been expressed in the cases of Daji Saheb & others (.supra) as well as Indira Sohanlal (supra). 7. In the case of Gartkapati Veeraya (supra) a Bench of Five Judges of the Hon'ble Supreme Court as per majority judgment in paragraph 23 of the judgment held : "From the decisions cited above the following principles clearly emerge : (i) That the legal pursuit of a remedy, suit, appeal and second appeal are really but steps in a series of proceedings all connected by an intrinsic unity and are to be regarded as one legal proceeding. (ii) The right of appeal is not a mere matter of procedure but is a substantive right. (iii) The institution of the suit carries with it the implication that all rights of appeal then in force are preserved to the parties thereto till the rest of the career of the suit. (iv) The right of appeal it vested right and such a right to enter the superior Court accrues to the litigant and exists as on and from the date the lis commences and although it may be actually exercised when the adverse judgment is pronounced such right is to be governed by the law that prevails at the date of its decision or at the date of the filing if the appeal. (v) This vested right of appeal can be taken away only by a subse­quent enactment, it is so provides expressly or by necessary intendment and not otherwise." 8. There cannot be any dispute that it has been well settled by the afore­said decisions of the Supreme Court that right to appeal before superior Court/ Tribunal from the judgment and order passed by inferior Court/Tribunal is a vested right of the parties to litigation and such right accrues with the commencement of the I is in the original Court/Tribunal unless such right is taken away by enactment with retrospective effect. 9. 9. In the instant case right of the parties to approach the superior Court against the judgment and order passed by the Court in which suit was instituted accrued in the year 1990 and that right has not been taken away by the Manipur Act 5 of 1992. The vested right to approach the superior Court against the judgment and decree of the original Court has been pre­served and in fact appeal against the judgment and decree has been preferred before the superior Court, namely, the Court of the learned District Judge. By Manipur Act 5 of 1992 only the forum to exercise the vested right to appeal has been changed by raising the pecuniary jurisdiction of the appellate Court. In my opinion, the right to appeal to superior Court which vests to the parties to litigation at the t>me of commencement of the lis, cannot be stressed or enlarged to include the particular appellate Court before which the appeal could be preferred at that time because of pecuniary jurisdiction. The vested right to appeal of the parties to the suit accrued at the time of commencement of the lis is confined to superior Court/Tribunal only and not to particular Court or Tribunal. The change of the appellate Court because of raising the pecuniary jurisdiction has no way infringed or taken away the right to appeal vested to the parties to the suit at the commencement of the lis. As such, the contention of the petitioner that the learned District Judge has no jurisdiction to entertain the appeal because of the fact that the suit valued at Rs. 5,100/-was instituted at the time when the District Judge had the appellate jurisdiction of cases where the value of the suit did not exceed Rs. 5,000 /-, is not tenable. 10. As regards the petitioner's grievances against the ad-interim order of stay, I find that the learned appellate Court below has committed no error of jurisdiction in passing the ex-parte order staying the execution of the decree. Petitioner may approach the learned District Judge for modification or vacation of the stay order. The question as to whether the appeal is bad for non-joinder of necessary parties or not will be considered by the learned appellate Court below when the appeal is heard on merit. For the reasons stated above, the petition is without merit and is rejected. No costs.