Case: Vishesh Kumar Vs. Shanti Prasad

covered by the proviso would include those instances, for example where an original suit although of a value making it triable by a court subordinate is transferred to the District Court for trial. Orders passed by the District Court in such a suit could constitute a case decided by it and amenable to the revisional power of the High Court. What must be noted is that the test incorporated in the proviso is the fact that the case has been decided by the District Court. The valuation of the suit is irrelevant. But the proviso cannot be construed to include the case of a revisional order passed by the District Court for that would be in direct conflict with the fundamental structure itself of s. 115 evidencing that a mutually exclusive jurisdiction has been assigned to the High Court and the District Court within its terms. A proviso cannot be permitted by construction to defeat the basic intent expressed in the substantive provision. Har Prasad Singh (supra) and Phoolwati (supra) were considered by a Full Bench of the High Court in M/s Jupiter Fund (Pvt.) Ltd. v. Dwarka Diesh Dayal and others and in our judgment the High Court rightly laid down there that the phrase "case arising out of an original suit" occurring in s. 115 does not cover orders passed in revision.We are of opinion on the first question that the High Court is not vested with revisional jurisdiction under s. 115, Code of Civil Procedure-over a revisional order made by the District Court under that section.6. We shall now advert to the second question, whether a revisional order of the District Court under s. 25, Provincial Small Cause Courts Act, is amenable to the revisional jurisdiction of the High Court under s. 115, Code of Civil Procedure. Section 25 originally provided:"25. The High Court, for the purpose of satisfying itself that a decree or order made in any case decided by a Court of Small Causes was according to law, may call for the case and pass such order with respect thereto as it thinks fit."7. Section 25 was amended in its application to the State of Uttar Pradesh from time to time. The first amendment substituted the District Judge for the High Court, so that the District Judge became the repository of revisional power instead of the High Court. A further amendment, made in 1972, added a proviso, which declared that in relation to any case decided by a District Judge or Additional District Judge exercising the jurisdi ction of a Judge of Small Causes the power of revision under s. 25 would vest in the High Court. The question before us arises in those cases only where the District Judge has exercised revisional power under s. 25. Is an order so made open to revision by the High Court under s. 115, Code of Civil Procedure ? An examination of the several provisions of the Provincial Small Cause Courts Act indicates that it is a self-sufficient code so far as the present enquiry is concerned. For t he purpose of correcting decrees or orders made by a Court of Small Causes the Act provides for an appeal and a revision in cases falling under s. 24 and s. 25 respectively. Cases in which the District Judge and the High Court respectively exercise revisional power, revisional powers are specifically mentioned. A complete set of superior remedies has been incorporated in the Act. Moreover, s. 27 of the Act provides"27. Finality of decrees and orders.-Save as provide d by this Act, a decree or order made under the foregoing provisions of this Act by a Court of Small Causes shall be final."8. The Legislature clearly intended that a decree or order made by a Court of Small Causes should be final subject on ly to correction by the remedies provided under the Provincial Small Cause Courts Act. It is a point for consideration that had s. 25, in its application to the State of Uttar Pradesh continued in its original form the High Court would have exercised the revisional power under s. 25, and no question could have arisen of invoking the revisional power of the High Court under s. 115 of the Code. All the indications point to the conclusion that a case falling within the Provincial Small Cause Courts Act was never intended to be subject to the remedies provided by the Code of Civil Procedure. By way of abundant caution s. 7 of the Code made express provision barring the application of ss. 96 to 112 and 115 of the Code to courts constituted under the Provincial Small Cause Courts Act. Section 7 of the Code merely embodies the general principle against resort to remedies outside the Provincial Small Cause Courts Act. Although the court of the District Judge is not a court constituted under the Act the general principle continues to take effect. No change in the principle was brought about merely because revisional power under s. 25, before the proviso was added, was now entrusted to the District Judge. It must be remembered that the legislative intention behind the amendment was to relieve the High Court of the burden of exercising revisional jurisdiction in respect of cases decided under the Provincial Small Cause Courts Act. We are of firm opinion that the central principle continues to hold, notwithstanding the amendment effected in s. 25, that the hierarchy of remedies enacted in the Provincial Small Cause Courts Act represents a complete and final order of remedies, and it is not possible to proceed outside the Act to avail of a superior remedy provided by another statute. These considerations were apparently not present before the High Court of Allahabad when it held in Bimla Rani Kohli v. M/s. Bandu Motor Finance (P) Lt d. that a revisional order of the District Judge under s. 25, Provincial Small Cause Courts Act could be revised by the High Court under s. 115, Code of Civil Procedure.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 1

Explanation:
1[ds]The basis for determining that question flows from the principle incorporated in the bifurcation of the revisional jurisdiction. And legislative history comes to our aid. The consistent object behind the successive amendments was to divide the work load of revision petitions between the High Court and the District Court and decentralise that jurisdiction. That purpose was sought to be achieved by classifying all cases into two mutually exclusive categories depending on the valuation of the suit out of which they arose. In determining whether the Legislature intended a further revision petition to the High Court, regard must be had to the principle that the construction given to a statute should be such as would advance the object of the legislation and suppress the mischief sought to be cured by it. It seems to us that to recognise a revisional power in the High Court over a revisional order passed by the District Judge would plainly defeat the object of the legislative scheme. The intent behind the bifurcation of jurisdiction-to reduce the number of revision petitions filed in the High Court-would be frustrated . The scheme would, in large measure, lose its meaning. If a revision petition is permitted to the High Court against the revisional order of the District Court arising out of a suit of a value less than Rs. 20, 000/-, a fundamental contradict ion would be allowed to invade and destroy the division of revisional power between the High Court and the District Court, for the High Court would then enjoy jurisdictional power in respect of an order arising out of a suit of a valuation below Rs. 20, 000/-. That was never intended at all.In Phoolwati (supra), considerable importance was attached to the proviso introduced in s. 115 by the U.P. Civil Laws Amendment Act, 1973. The proviso declared that "in respect of.... .. all cases arising out of original suits of any valuation decided by the District Court, the High Court alone shall be competent to make an order under this section". What it said was that no matter what the valuation of the original suit, be it R s. 20, 000/- and above or below Rs. 20, 000/-, if a case arising out of such suit was decided by the District Court, the case would be amenable to the revisional power of the High Court. We are already familiar with the category of cases where the High Court wields revisional jurisdiction over cases arising out of original suits of a value of Rs. 20, 000/- or more. That is the category already covered by the substantive provision in s. 115. The other category covered by the proviso would include those instances, for example where an original suit although of a value making it triable by a court subordinate is transferred to the District Court for trial. Orders passed by the District Court in such a suit could constitute a case decided by it and amenable to the revisional power of the High Court. What must be noted is that the test incorporated in the proviso is the fact that the case has been decided by the District Court. The valuation of the suit is irrelevant. But the proviso cannot be construed to include the case of a revisional order passed by the District Court for that would be in direct conflict with the fundamental structure itself of s. 115 evidencing that a mutually exclusive jurisdiction has been assigned to the High Court and the District Court within its terms. A proviso cannot be permitted by construction to defeat the basic intent expressed in the substantive provision. Har Prasad Singh (supra) and Phoolwati (supra) were considered by a Full Bench of the High Court in M/s Jupiter Fund (Pvt.) Ltd. v. Dwarka Diesh Dayal and others and in our judgment the High Court rightly laid down there that the phrase "case arising out of an original suit" occurring in s. 115 does not cover orders passed in revision.We are of opinion on the first question that the High Court is not vested with revisional jurisdiction under s. 115,Code of CivilProcedure-over a revisional order made by the District Court under that25 was amended in its application to the State of Uttar Pradesh from time to time. The first amendment substituted the District Judge for the High Court, so that the District Judge became the repository of revisional power instead of the High Court. A further amendment, made in 1972, added a proviso, which declared that in relation to any case decided by a District Judge or Additional District Judge exercising the jurisdi ction of a Judge of Small Causes the power of revision under s. 25 would vest in the HighLegislature clearly intended that a decree or order made by a Court of Small Causes should be final subject on ly to correction by the remedies provided under the Provincial Small Cause Courts Act. It is a point for consideration that had s. 25, in its application to the State of Uttar Pradesh continued in its original form the High Court would have exercised the revisional power under s. 25, and no question could have arisen of invoking the revisional power of the High Court under s. 115 of the Code. All the indications point to the conclusion that a case falling within the Provincial Small Cause Courts Act was never intended to be subject to the remedies provided by theCode of CivilProcedure. By way of abundant caution s. 7 of the Code made express provision barring the application of ss. 96 to 112 and 115 of the Code to courts constituted under the Provincial Small Cause Courts Act. Section 7 of the Code merely embodies the general principle against resort to remedies outside the Provincial Small Cause Courts Act. Although the court of the District Judge is not a court constituted under the Act the general principle continues to take effect. No change in the principle was brought about merely because revisional power under s. 25, before the proviso was added, was now entrusted to the District Judge. It must be remembered that the legislative intention behind the amendment was to relieve the High Court of the burden of exercising revisional jurisdiction in respect of cases decided under the Provincial Small Cause Courts Act. We are of firm opinion that the central principle continues to hold, notwithstanding the amendment effected in s. 25, that the hierarchy of remedies enacted in the Provincial Small Cause Courts Act represents a complete and final order of remedies, and it is not possible to proceed outside the Act to avail of a superior remedy provided by another statute. These considerations were apparently not present before the High Court of Allahabad when it held in Bimla Rani Kohli v. M/s. Bandu Motor Finance (P) Lt d. that a revisional order of the District Judge under s. 25, Provincial Small Cause Courts Act could be revised by the High Court under s. 115,Code of Civilregards the first question, it will be noticed that a revisional power was formerly entrusted exclusively to the highest court in the state, the High Court. The State amendments now divided it between the High Court and the District Court. The amendment effect by the U.P. Civil Laws (Amendment) Act, 1970 conferred exclusive jurisdiction under s. 115 in the High Court in cases arising out of original suits of the value of Rs. 20, 000/and above, and in other cases the revisional jurisdiction was concurrently shared between the High Court and the District Court. It was apparently supposed that the average litigant would prefer the less expensive and more convenient forum of the District Court. The measure, it seems, did not bring the relief expected, and the State Legislature found it necessary, by enacting the U.P. Civil Laws (Amendment) Act, 1972 to make adivision of jurisdiction between the High Court and the District Court, resulting in exclusive revisional jurisdiction to the High Court in cases arising out o f original suits of the value of Rs. 20, 000/and above, and exclusive jurisdiction under s. 115 to the District Court in other cases. There was a sharp bifurcation of revisional jurisdiction, and the High Court and District Court now enjoyed mutually exclusive revisional powers. A controversy arose whether a revisional order under s. 115 made by the District Court was final or was itself amendable to the revisional power of the High Court under the same section. The point was considered by a full Bench of the High Court in Har Parasad Singh and others v. Ram Swarup and others and it was held that no such revision petition was maintainable before the High Court. Further State amendments were made to s. 115 without materially disturbing the division of power. But a proviso added to s. 115 by the U.P. Civil Laws (Amendment) Act, 1973, followed by the U.P. Presidents Actswith Modifications) Act, 1974 stated:"rovided that in respect of cases decided before the 20th day of September, 1972, and also all cases arising out of original suits of any valuation decided by the District Court, the High Court alone shall be competent to make an order under thisare of firm opinion that the central principle continues to hold, notwithstanding the amendment effected in s. 25, that the hierarchy of remedies enacted in the Provincial Small Cause Courts Act represents a complete and final order of remedies, and it is not possible to proceed outside the Act to avail of a superior remedy provided by another statute. These considerations were apparently not present before the High Court of Allahabad when it held in Bimla Rani Kohli v. M/s. Bandu Motor Finance (P) Lt d. that a revisional order of the District Judge under s. 25, Provincial Small Cause Courts Act could be revised by the High Court under s. 115,Code of CivilProcedure. In our opinion, the view taken by the High Court is not correct.Accordingly, we hold that an order passed under s. 25, Provincial Small Cause Courts Act by a District Court is not amenable to the revisional jurisdiction of the High Court under s. 115,Code of Civilare unable to accept that prayer. A revision petition under s. 115 is a separate and distinct proceeding from a petition under Article 227 of the Constitution, and one cannot be identified with the other.