Civil Appeals Nos
2563 2565 of 1969
From the judgment and order dated the 17th May 1968 of the Patna High Court in original order Nos 283 285 of 1963
ML Lahoty SC Patel and H Roy for the Appellant
GS Chatterjee for the Respondent State of Bengal
Bhagat Additional Solicitor General and D Goburdhan for the Respondent State of Bihar
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by VENKATARAMIAH J
The question involved in these three appeals by certificate relates to the liability of the State of Bihar to pay the amount of compensation in respect of lands which after their acquisition by it under the Land Acquisition Act stood transferred to the State of West Bengal under the Act No 40 of 1956 hereinafter referred to as the Act 
The facts of these cases may be briefly stated thus Three pieces of land belonging to the appellant which were situated in village Madati in the District of Purnea in the State of Bihar were 880 acquired under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act by the State of Bihar in the year 1951 for a certain public purpose
After the Land Acquisition officer passed the awards in respect of the said lands the question of determination of proper compensation was referred to the District Judge Purnea under section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act at the instance of the appellant
The District Judge by his judgment and award dated May 7 1954 enhanced the compensation payable in each of the three cases
Against that judgment the State of Bihar filed three appeals before the High Court of Patna in the year 1954
When the appeals were pending before the High Court the Act was passed and it came into force on the appointed day ie November 1 1956
Under the Act the area in which the acquired lands were situated stood transferred to the State of West Bengal
The appeals were however not transferred to the Calcutta High Court
The State of West Bengal was also not substituted in the place of the State of Bihar in the appeals
The appeals were dismissed by the Patna High Court after hearing the counsel for the State of Bihar on March 8 1960
The appellant thereafter filed execution petitions in the Court of the Additional District Judge impleading the State of Bihar as the judgment debtor in 1961
The State of Bihar raised objections to the execution proceedings by way of petitions under section 47 of the Code of Civil Procedure in March 1962 stating that its liability under the decree had ceased by virtue of the provisions of the Act and that the State of West Bengal within whose jurisdiction the acquired lands were situated was liable to pay the decretal amounts
The executing court upheld the plea of the State of Bihar and dismissed the execution petitions by its order dated July 9 1963
The appellant preferred appeals against the orders of the executing court before the High Court of Patna
The said appeals were also dismissed
Hence these appeals
It should be stated here that the State of West Bengal had not been impleaded as a party either in the executing court or in the High Court
In these appeals by an order made by this Court in the year 1972 the State of West Bengal was impleaded as a respondent in each of these cases
The decision in these appeals turns on the true construction of the relevant provisions of the Act since it is not disputed that the acquired lands are transferred to the State of West Bengal under the Act
Section 47 of the Act reads 47
Legal proceedings
Where immediately before the appointed day the State of Bihar is a party to any legal 881 proceedings with respect to any property rights or liabilities transferred to the State of West Bengal under this Act that State shall be deemed to be substituted for the State of Bihar as a party to those proceedings or added as a party thereto as the case may be and the proceedings may continue accordingly
 Section 48 of the Act deals with the transfer of proceedings arising from the transferred territories and pending immediately before the appointed day before a court other than the High Court tribunal authority or officer in the State of Bihar to the corresponding court tribunal authority or officer in the State of West Bengal
We are now concerned with the proceedings pending in the High Court
Section 17 of the Act is the relevant provision dealing with them
It reads thus 17
Extension of jurisdiction of and transfer of proceedings to Calcutta High Court 1 Except as hereinafter provided a the jurisdiction of the High Court at Calcutta shall as from the appointed day extend to the transferred territories and b the High Court at Patna shall as from that day have no jurisdiction in respect of the transferred territories
2 Such proceedings pending in the High Court at Patna immediately before the appointed day as arc certified by the Chief Justice of that High Court having regard to the place of accrual of the cause of action and other circumstances to be proceedings which ought to be heard and decided by the High Court at Calcutta shall as soon as may be after such certification be transferred to the High Court at Calcutta
3 Notwithstanding anything contained in sub sections 1 and 2 but save as hereinafter provided the High Court at Patna shall have and the High Court at Calcutta shall not have jurisdiction to entertain hear or dispose of appeals applications for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court applications for review and 882 other proceedings where any such proceedings seek any relief in respect of any order passed by the High Court at Patna before the appointed day Provided that if after such proceedings have been entertained by the High Court at Patna it appears to the Chief Justice of that High Court that they ought to be transferred to the High Court at Calcutta he shall order that they shall be so transferred and such proceedings shall thereupon be transferred accordingly
4 Any order made by the High Court at Patna a before the appointed day in any proceedings transferred to the High Court at Calcutta by virtue of subsection 2 or b in any proceedings with respect to which the High Court at Patna retains jurisdiction by virtue of sub section 3 shall for all purposes have effect not only as an order of the High Court at Patna but also as an order made by the High Court at Calcutta underlining by us Sub section 2 of section 17 of the Act states that only such proceedings pending in the High Court of Patna immediately before the appointed day as are certified by the Chief Justice of that High Court having regard to the place of accrual of the cause of action and other circumstances have to be transferred to the High Court at Calcutta
It follows that if there is no such certification they have to be disposed of by the High Court of Patna even though the cause of action might have accrued in any part of the transferred territories as that court continues to exercise jurisdiction over those cases
In the instant case since there was no such certificate the High Court of Patna rightly disposed of the appeals
The liability however would be that of the State of West Bengal because of section 47 of the Act
The State of West Bengal should be deemed to have been substituted for the State of Bihar even though no such order had been passed on a formal application for substitution
When the law says that something should be deemed to have been done in a given case the said legal fiction should be carried to its 883 logical end to achieve the desired result
The decrees must therefore be deemed to have been passed by the High Court of Patna against the State of West Bengal when the appeals were dismissed by the Patna High Court
It may be mentioned here that the State of West Bengal has not taken any steps to get those decrees revoked till now before the Patna High Court even though it had actual notice of those proceedings when notices in these appeals were served on it
It is also not contended by the State of West Bengal and we feel rightly that the decrees are not binding on the State of West Bengal
The only submission made on its behalf is that the interest that had accrued on the amount of compensation awarded by the Court upto date or at least upto the date on which the notices issued in these appeals were served on the State of West Bengal should be disallowed
There is no merit in this submission
The executing court cannot go behind the decree
The judgment debtor has to pay the entire decretal amount
By virtue of section 47 of the Act the State of West Bengal would be bound by the decrees or orders made in respect of matters referred to therein against the State of Bihar before the appointed day and also after the appointed day even though the State of West Bengal is not formally brought on record in the place of the State of Bihar
In all such cases the State of Bihar should be considered as effectively representing the State of West Bengal
That is the true effect of the deeming  provision contained in that section
In this situation the executing court should have been directed by the High Court to substitute the State of West Bengal in the place of the State of Bihar in the execution petitions and to proceed to execute the decrees against the State of West Bengal
In view of the foregoing
these appeals are allowed the judgments of the High Court and of the executing court are set aside and execution applications are remanded to the executing court to proceed with the execution against the State of West Bengal after substituting the State of West Bengal as the judgment debtor in the place of the State of Bihar
In the circumstances the parties shall bear their costs throughout
PBR Appeal allowed


Summary:
In 1951 three pieces of land belonging to the appellant situated in Bihar were acquired by the State of Bihar for a public purpose
When appeals against the judgment of the District Judge enhancing the compensation payable in respect of these lands were pending before the Patna High Court the West Bengal Transfer of Territories Act 1956 came into force in consequence of which the acquired lands stood transferred to the State of West Bengal
The appeals pending before the Patna High Court were however not transferred to the Calcutta High Court nor was the State of West Bengal substituted in place of the State of Bihar
The Patna High Court dismissed tho State s appeals
In the execution petitions the appellant impleaded the State of Bihar as the judgment debtor but the State of Bihar raised an objection that since the lands were then situated is the State of West Bengal it was that State which was liable to pay the decretal amounts
Upholding this contention the executing court dismissed the execution petition
This was upheld by the High Court
Allowing the appeal  HELD Section 17 of the Act enjoins that only such proceedings pending in the High Court of Patna immediately before the appointed day as are certified by the Chief Justice of that High Court having regard to the place of accrual of the cause of action and other circumstances have to be transferred to the High Court of Calcutta which means that if there is no such certification they have to be disposed of by the High Court of Patna even though the cause of action might have accrued in any part of the transferred territories as that court continues to exercise jurisdiction over those cases
862 E G In the instant case since there was no such certificate the High Court of Patna rightly disposed of the appeals
882 G 879 Under section 47 of the Act the State of West Bengal should be deemed to have been substituted for the State of Bihar even though no such order had been passed on a formal application for substitution
When the law says that something should be deemed to have been done the legal fiction should be carried to its logical end to achieve the desired result
The decrees must therefore be deemed to have been passed by the High Court of Patna against tho State of West Bengal when the appeals were dismissed by the Patna High Court
882 H 883 A C By virtue of Section 47 the State of West Bengal would be bound by the decrees or orders made in respect of matters referred to therein against the State of Bihar both before and after the appointed day even though the State of West Bengal is not formally brought on record in the place of State of Bihar
In all such cases the State of Bihar should be considered as effectively representing the State of West Bengal
883 D E There is no merit in the submission that the interest accrued on the amounts of compensation uptodate or upto the date on which the notices were served on the State of West Bengal should be disallowed
The executing court cannot go behind the decree
883 B C