ION Civil Appeal No 1574 of 1980
Appeal by Special leave from the Judgment and Order dated the 2771979 of the Allahahad High Court in CMW No Nil of 1979
Anil Dev Singh SL Aneja and KL Taneja for the Appellant
MC Manchanda Mrs Shobha Dikshit and Pramod Swarup for the Respondent
His attempts to get the said decree executed were stalled sometimes by objections filed by the tenant appellant and sometimes by amendments made 745 in the law with the result that even after 13 years of litigation the landlord respondent was not able to get possession of the premises
This was because of a statutory amendment which made the decree obtained by him inexecutable and was therefore Lying dormant and ineffective
The legislature having realised the hardship of such landlords came to their rescue by an amendment in 1976 to the UP Urban Buildings Regulation of Letting Rent and Eviction Act 1972 for short to be referred to as the 1972 Act  which was expressly given retrospective operation so as to revive the decrees which had become inexecutable
When the appeal was heard and the arguments were concluded the respondents had made a good gesture in agreeing to allow the tenant two years  time to vacate the premises on giving the usual undertaking and accordingly we adjourned the case to enable the parties to come to a settlement
However we were informed by counsel for the parties that no settlement could be reached hence we have now to decide the case on merits
And now to the facts of the case
The respondent landlord filed a suit for ejectment in the year 1971 and obtained a decree for ejectment against the appellant tenant
By virtue of the provisions of 1972 Act the case was transferred to the court of the Judge Small Causes who tried the case and passed a decree in favour of the respondent on 441973
It may be noted that the tenant did not object to the jurisdiction nor did he prefer and appeal or revision against the said judgment dated 4473 and the same became final
Thereafter the decree holders filed an execution petition being Execution Case No 4 of 1973
The appellant however raised a jurisdictional objection on the basis of a judgment of the Allahabad High Court reported in 1975 ALR 360 that the transfer of a suit before conferment
Of jurisdiction to the Judge Small Causes Court was not competent and therefore the decree was not executable
Counsel for the respondents under some misconception conceded that the suit would have to be tried all over again and the Execution Case was therefore disposed of by an order dated 3111976 passed by the Executing Court
The Court held that the decree was without jurisdiction
The respondents however took the stand that a concession on a point of law was not binding on him nor was his Advocate authorised to make such a concession
However the decree 746 remained inexecutable but by virtue of the UP Urban Buildings Regulation of Letting Rent and Eviction Amendment Act 1976 hereinafter referred to as the 1976 Amendment Act  section 9 of the 1972 Act was made applicable with retrospective effect to remove the injustice and remedy the mischief which had been caused to the decree holders
The relevant portion of the said amendment may be extracted thus 26
Transitory Provision XX XX XX 6 The provision of section 9 of the Uttar Pradesh Civil Laws Amendment Act 1972 shall apply and shall be deemed always to have applied in relation to suits of the nature referred to therein which before the commencement of that Act had been transferred to a competent court and were pending immediately before the date of commencement of that Act in such transferee court as they apply in relation to suits which were pending in the court in which they were instituted Provided that any such suit decided by the transferee court between the commencement of the said Act and the commencement of this Act on the assumption that the said Section 9 did not apply to such suits shall be deemed to have been validly decided as if the said section did not apply to such suits
 As a result of the amendment extracted above the judgment of the Allahabad High Court reported in 1975 ALR 360 stood overruled and effaced
In view of this amendment the respondents filed an application before the Executing Court for revival of the suit and the decree which was accepted by the court and a civil revision filed against the said order was dismissed by the High Court hence this appeal by special leave in this Court
In order to understand the implication of the 1976 Amendment Act it may be necessary to peruse section 265 of the said Amendment which is extracted thus 747 5 Notwithstanding any judgment decree or order of any court or authority the provisions of Rule 16 of the Uttar Pradesh Urban Buildings Regulation of Letting Rent and Eviction Rules 1972 shall be deemed to have been made under the provisions of the principal Act as amended by this Act as if this Act were in force on all material dates
 A close analysis of the above reveals that the intention of the legislature was to remove the injustice done to the landlords whose decrees became inexecutable
The logical consequence which flows from an interpretation of clauses 5 and 6 of section 26 of the 1976 Amendment Act would be that all decrees which hitherto had been Lying dormant would revive and the landlord could get the decree executed
The Executing Court as also the High Court upheld the contention of the respondents and directed execution of the decree
The sheet anchor of the arguments of the counsel for the appellant was that in view of the Allahabad High Court decision supra and the 1972 Act the decree stood set aside and could not be revived or made executable even by the 1976 Amendment Act
It is however impossible for us to accept this contention because the dominant purpose of the 1976 Amendment Act was to remedy the injustice done to the landlords by the 1972 Act
Another flaw in the argument of the counsel for the appellant is that it presumes that the decree became completely without jurisdiction and stood set aside
That however could not be the position in law
Even if the 1972 Act were to apply the utmost consequence would be that the decree would remain inexecutable but could not be struck off from the records of the case
This is a clear case where the doctrine of eclipse would apply and in view of the 1976 Amendment Act the decree will revive and become executable
This principle has been applied by this Court in several cases and flows from the well known doctrine of eclipse which has been enunciated not only in India but in other countries also
In Sutherland Statutory Construction by Horack Vol
I 3rd Edn the following passages may be noted In a majority of the jurisdictions the courts recognise 748 the mistake of the legislature and try to determine and give effect to its intent
If the legislature has expressed its purpose intelligibly in the amendatory act and provided fully upon the subject considered a majority of courts hold that it is a reasonable conclusion that the legislature did not intend to make the enforcement of the statute contingent on the continued existence of the repealed statute p 329 The unconstitutional act physically exists in the official statutes of the state and is there available for reference and as it is only unenforceable the purported amendment is given effect
If the law as amended is constitutional it will be enforced p 335 It is true that the American Constitution as also the American courts have been most reluctant to apply the doctrine of eclipse but this Court has pointed out in more than one case that the American view cannot be applied to our Constitution
The matter first came up for consideration before this Court in Bhikaji Narain Dhakras  Ors
vs State of Madhya Pradesh  Anr
where in a similar situation the doctrine of eclipse was fully applied and the court observed thus The true position is that the impugned law became as it were eclipsed for the time being by the fundamental right
The effect of the Constitution First Amendment Act 1951 was to remove the shadow and to make the impugned Act free from all blemish or infirmity
Such laws were not dead for all purposes
They existed for the purposes of pre Constitution rights and liabilities and they remained operative even after the Constitution as against non citizens
In our judgment after the amendment of clause 6 of Article 19 on the 18th June 1951 the impugned Act ceased to be unconstitutional and became revivified and enforceable against citizens as well as against non citizens
But after the amendment of clause 6 the impugned Act immediately became fully operative even as against the citizens In Deep Chand vs State of UP  Ors
similar observations 749 were made by this Court which may be extracted thus As however our learned Brother has thought fit to embark upon a discussion of these questions we desire to guard ourselves against being understood as accepting or acquiescing in the conclusion that the doctrine of eclipse cannot apply to any post Constitution law
A post Constitution law may infringe either a fundamental right conferred on citizens only or a fundamental right conferred on any person citizen or non citizen
In the first case the law will not stand in the way of the exercise by the citizens of that fundamental right and therefore will not have any operation on the rights of the citizens but it will be quite a effective as regards non citizens
In such a case the fundamental right will qua the citizens throw a shadow on the law which will nevertheless be on the Statute Book as a valid law binding on non citizens and if the shadow is removed by a constitutional amendment the law will immediately be applicable even to the citizens without being re enacted
In other words the doctrine of eclipse as explained by this Court in Bhikaji Narain Dhakras vs The State of Madhya Pradesh  also applies to a post Constitution law of this kind
A pre Constitution law stating in the words of Das J as he then was exists notwithstanding that it does not exist with respect to the future exercise of the fundamental rights
That principle has been extended in this decision by invoking the doctrine of eclipse
As the law existed on the statute book to support pre Constitution acts the Court held
that the said law was eclipsed for the time being by one or other of the fundamental rights and when the shadow was removed by the amendment of the Constitution the impugned Act became free from all blemish or infirmity Emphasis ours In Mahendra Lal Jaini vs The State of Uttar Pradesh  Ors
this Court held as follows The pre Constitution laws which were perfectly valid when they were passed and the existence of which is recognised in the opening words of article 131 revive by the removal of the inconsistency in question
This in effect is 750 the doctrine of eclipse which if we may say so with respect was applied in Bhikaji Narain s case So far as pre Constitution laws are concerned the amendment of the Constitution which removes the inconsistency will result in the revival of such laws by virtue of the doctrine of eclipse as laid down in Bhikaji Narain s case for the pre existing laws were not still born and would still exist though eclipsed on account of the inconsistency to govern pre existing matters Emphasis supplied In two recent decisions this Court has applied the doctrine of eclipse in similar situations
In section Anbalagan vs B Devarajan the following observations were made Unless the practice of the caste makes it necessary no expiatory rites need be performed and ordinarily he regains his caste unless the community does not accept him
The practice of caste however irrational it may appear to our reason and however repugnant it may appear to our moral and social sense is so deep rooted in the Indian people that its mark does not seem to disappear on conversion to a different religion
If it disappears it disappears only to reappear on reconversion Emphasis ours Similarly in the case of Kailash Sonkar vs Smt
Maya Devi to which one of us Fazal Ali J was a party this Court made the following observation In our opinion when a person is converted to Christianity or some other religion the original caste remains under eclipse and as soon as during hisher life time the person is reconverted to the original religion the eclipse disappears and the caste automatically revives Thus applying the rule of law laid down by this Court there would be no difficulty in upholding the judgments of the courts below in this particular appeal
By virtue of the 1972 Act the decree could not have been set aside or invalidated and the only consequence which would ensue is that the decree would be lying dormant and could not be executed
Once the bar placed by the 1972 Act is 751 removed by virtue of the doctrine of eclipse the decree will revive and become at once operative and executable
The courts below have rightly decided that after the 1976 Amendment Act the decree became legally executable
Some other arguments were also advanced on behalf of the appellant but in view of the express language of the 1976
Amendment Act and the doctrine of eclipse they seem to be futile
For the reasons given above we uphold the decree for ejectment passed by the courts below against the appellant and dismiss the appeal with costs
As the litigation has taken more than a decade it is not possible for us to give any time to the tenant for a vacating the premises and the decree may now be executed forthwith and the landlord put into possession
NVK Appeal dismissed


Summary:
The respondent landlord filed a suit for ejectment in the year 1971 and obtained a decree for ejectment against the appellant tenant
By virtue of the provisions of the UP Urban Buildings Regulation of Letting Rent and Eviction Act 1972 the case was transferred to the court of the Judge Small Causes who tried the case and passed a decree in favour of the respondent
No appeal or revision was filed against the said judgment
Thereafter the decree holders filed an execution petition
The appellant raised a jurisdictional objection on the basis of the judgment of the Allahabad High Court KK Saksena vs SN Misra to the effect that the transfer of the suit before conferment of the jurisdiction to the Judge Small Causes Court was not competent and therefore the decree was not executable
The respondent s counsel contended that the suit would have to be tried all over again and the Court held that the decree was without jurisdiction
Tho decree remained inexecutable but by virtue of the UP Urban Buildings Regulation of Letting Rent and Eviction Amendment Act 1976 section 9 of the 1972 Act was made applicable with retrospective effect to remove The injustice and remedy the mischief which had been caused to the decree holders
As a result of the amendment the aforesaid judgment of the Allahabad High Court stood over ruled and effaced
In view of the aforesaid amendment the respondents filed an application before the Executing Court for revival of the suit and the decree which was accepted by the Court and a Civil Revision filed against the said order was dismissed by the High Court
744 In the appeal to this Court it was contended on behalf of the appellant that in view of the Allahabad High Court decision and the 1972 Act the decree stood set aside and could not be received or made executable even by the 1976 Amendment Act
Dismissing the appeal  HELD 1
The courts below have rightly decided that after the 1976 Amendment Act the decree became legally executable
747A 2
By virtue of the 1972 Act the decree could not have been set aside or invalidated and the only consequence which would ensue is that the decree would be lying dormant and could not be executed
Once the bar placed by the 1972 Act is removed by virtue of the doctrine of eclipse the decree will revive and become at once operative and executable
750H 751A 3 Even if the 1972 Act were to apply the utmost consequence would be that the decree would remain inexecutable but could not be struck off from the records of the case
This is clear case where the doctrine of eclipse would apply and in view of the 1976 Amendment Act the decree will revive and become executable
This principle has been applied by this Court in several cases and flows from the well known doctrine of eclipse which has been enunciated not only in India but in other countries also
747G H Bhikaji Narain Dhakras  Ors
vs Stats of Madhya Pradesh  Anr   Deep Chand vs State of UP of Uttar Pradesh  Ors 1963 1 Supp
SCR 912 section Anbalagan vs B Devarajan  Kailash Sonkar vs Smt
Maya Devi  referred to