Case: K. Hutchi Gowder Vs. Richobdas Pathaimull &amp; Co

of a debt incurred after the Act came into force.5. Realizing this difficulty, Mr. Viswanatha Sastri relied upon the provisions of S. 13 itself and contends that the said Section provides, in the case of debts incurred after the Parent Act came into force, both for the substantive relief as well as for the machinery to give the said relief. The said Section reads:"In any proceeding for recovery of a debt, the Court shall scale down all interest due on any debt incurred by an agriculturist after the commencement of this Act, so as not to exceed a sum calculated at 6-1/4 per cent. per annum, simple interest. . . . . . .."The Government by notification reduced the rate of interest to 5-1/2 per cent, per annum with effect from July 29, 1947. Let us scrutinize the provisions of the Section in the light of the arguments advanced.6. Learned counsel asks us to read the words "decree debt" instead of "debt" in S. 13 of the Parent Act, for "debt is defined to take in a decree debt, and by so reading, he contends, in any proceeding, which according to him, includes a final decree application the court shall scale down all interest in the manner prescribed thereunder. It is further argued that final decree proceedings are only proceedings in a suit and, therefore, the word "recovery" in the sub-section is appropriate in the context of a decree debt. This argument, if accepted, disturbs the entire scheme of the Parent Act. Section 13 is one of the group of Sections viz., Ss. 8, 9 and 13, dealing with the principles of scaling down in a proceeding for the recovery of a debt. But where a decree is to be amended, the Act has taken care to provide expressly for the amendment of the decree. If the Legislature intended to provide for the amendment of decrees even in cases falling under S. 13, it would have added another appropriate clause in S. 19. The absence of any such clause indicates an intention that in cases of debts comprehended by S. 13, the Legislature gives only a limited relief expressly provided thereunder. It is said, so, far as the reopening of decrees after the Parent Act came into force is concerned, whether in respect of debts incurred before or after the said Act, there cannot possibly be a justification for a difference in the manner of their treatment. A plausible reason can be discerned for this legislative distinction between debts incurred before the Act and those incurred after the Act, for in the former when the debts were incurred the Act was not in existence and, as the debtors could not have anticipated the provisions of the Act, they were given the summary remedy, but the agriculturists who incurred debts after the Parent Act with open eyes were denied the same; while in the former, they were allowed to reopen decrees made in respect of the said debts before or after the Act, in the latter they could claim relief only in an appropriate proceeding before the decree was made and that too was confined to the limited relief in regard to the rate of interest provided thereunder. The difference in the treatment of the two categories of decrees was brought about by sub-s. (2) of S. 19 added by a later amendment. Whatever may be the reason for the difference, we cannot extend the scope of S. 13 by analogy or by stretching the meaning of the words "proceeding" and "recovery".7. Reliance is placed upon S. 13-A of the Parent Act, which reads:"Where a debt is incurred by a person who would be an agriculturist as defined in Section 3(ii) but for the operation of proviso (B) or proviso (C) to that Section, the rate of interest applicable to the debt shall be the rate applicable to it under the law, custom, contract or decree of Court under which the debt arises or the rate applicable to an agriculturist under Section 13, whichever rate is less."On the basis of this Section a contention 13 raised that Ss. is and 13A relate to the same subject-matter with the difference that while S. 13 applies to agriculturists who incurred debts after the Parent Act came into force, S. 13A applies to persons who would be agriculturists but for the provisos (B) and (C) of S. 3(ii) in respect of debts incurred after the Act, and as a fair reading of S. 13-A indicates that it applies to decrees made in regard to debts incurred after the Act, it must be interpreted reasonably that S. 13 also applies to such decrees. Mr. Pathak, learned counsel for the respondent, on the other hand, contends that S. 13-A only applies to pre-Act debts, as S. 7 which declares the scheme of scaling down of debts applies only to pre-Act debts and the only exception to it is S. 13-A. Be that as it may, we cannot construe S. 13 with the aid of S. 13-A which was introduced by the Amending Act 23 of 1948. This appeal does not call for an interpretation of S. 13-A of the Act and we shall not express any opinion thereon.8. The legal position may be briefly stated thus. Sections 7, 8, 9 and 13 form a group of Sections providing the principles of scaling down of debts incurred by agriculturists under different situations. A debt can be scaled down in an appropriate proceeding taken in respect of the same. But in the case of debts that have ripened into decrees; S. 19 (1) and (2) prescribe a special procedure for reopening the decree only in respect of debts incurred before the Parent Act. The Parent Act does not provide for the reopening of decrees made in respect of debts incurred after it came into force, and for understandable reasons the relief in respect of such decrees is specifically confined only to a concession in the rate of interest.

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

Explanation:
1[ds]The general scheme of the Parent Act gathered therefrom may be briefly stated thus. The main object of the Parent Act was to give relief to agriculturists. "Debt" has been defined in S. 3 (iii) of the Parent Act as any liability in cash or kind, whether secured or unsecured, due from an agriculturist, whether payable under a decree or order of a civil or revenue court or otherwise. This definition is rather comprehensive: it takes in secured, unsecured and decree debts due from an agriculturist. Section 7 of the Parent Act declares that a debt so defined has to be scaled down in the manner prescribed by the said Act. Section 8 provides the mode of scaling down debts incurred before 1932 and S. 9, the debts incurred after 1932 but before March 22, 1938; and S. 13 deals with the scaling down of debts incurred after the commencement of the Parent Act. The relief granted under the said Act varies with the date of the debt depending upon whether it falls under one or other of the said three periods. While Ss. 7, 8, 9 and 13 give the principles for scaling down a debt, S. 19 provides the machinery for scalingargument, if accepted, disturbs the entire scheme of the Parent Act. Section 13 is one of the group of Sections viz., Ss. 8, 9 and 13, dealing with the principles of scaling down in a proceeding for the recovery of a debt. But where a decree is to be amended, the Act has taken care to provide expressly for the amendment of the decree. If the Legislature intended to provide for the amendment of decrees even in cases falling under S. 13, it would have added another appropriate clause in S. 19. The absence of any such clause indicates an intention that in cases of debts comprehended by S. 13, the Legislature gives only a limited relief expressly provided thereunder. It is said, so, far as the reopening of decrees after the Parent Act came into force is concerned, whether in respect of debts incurred before or after the said Act, there cannot possibly be a justification for a difference in the manner of their treatment. A plausible reason can be discerned for this legislative distinction between debts incurred before the Act and those incurred after the Act, for in the former when the debts were incurred the Act was not in existence and, as the debtors could not have anticipated the provisions of the Act, they were given the summary remedy, but the agriculturists who incurred debts after the Parent Act with open eyes were denied the same; while in the former, they were allowed to reopen decrees made in respect of the said debts before or after the Act, in the latter they could claim relief only in an appropriate proceeding before the decree was made and that too was confined to the limited relief in regard to the rate of interest provided thereunder. The difference in the treatment of the two categories of decrees was brought about by sub-s. (2) of S. 19 added by a later amendment. Whatever may be the reason for the difference, we cannot extend the scope of S. 13 by analogy or by stretching the meaning of the words "proceeding" and "recovery".The legal position may be briefly stated thus. Sections 7, 8, 9 and 13 form a group of Sections providing the principles of scaling down of debts incurred by agriculturists under different situations. A debt can be scaled down in an appropriate proceeding taken in respect of the same. But in the case of debts that have ripened into decrees; S. 19 (1) and (2) prescribe a special procedure for reopening the decree only in respect of debts incurred before the Parent Act. The Parent Act does not provide for the reopening of decrees made in respect of debts incurred after it came into force, and for understandable reasons the relief in respect of such decrees is specifically confined only to a concession in the rate ofposition, therefore, is that in the case of debts other thanthe scaling down process will have to be resorted to in an appropriate proceeding taken in respect of the debt and in the case of decrees in respect of debts incurred before the Parent Act whether made before or after the said Act, by filing an application under S. 19(1) or (2) of the Parent Act, as the case may be. But S. 19 on its express terms does not permit the filing of an application for amending a decree by scaling down a debt incurred after the Parent Act came into force. Doubtless,as Mr. Viswanatha Sastri contends, the Parent Act, to some extent, undermines the sanctity of decrees, but that is to implement the policy of the Legislature to give relief to agriculturists overburdened with debts. But a Court, particularly in the case of an expropriatory measure like the Act, cannot rely upon the supposed policy of the Legislature and extend the scope of the relief given to agriculturists by analogy.The scope of the relief shall necessarily be confined to that given by the Act expressly or by necessary implication. A fair reading of(1) and (2) of S. 19 of the Parent Act disclose beyond any reasonable doubt that the Legislature does not provide thereunder any machinery for reopening a decree made in respect of a debt incurred after the Act came into force.