Case: Assistant Custodian-General of Evacuee Property and Another Vs. Lila Devi and Another

2. A suit was brought is 1935 by one Nawab Ali Raza Khan against Nawab Nawazish Ali Khan for recovery of property. After a chequered career the suit was disposed of in appeal by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council by a decree granting a declaration in favour of the plaintiff. A claim for mesne profits was left to the trial Court for adjudication. On September 27, 1955 the trial Court passed a decree against Nawab nawazish Ali Khan in the following terms :It is hereby decreed that the defendant do pay to the plaintiff the sum of Rs. 11, 53, 600 with interest thereon at 3 per cent per annum to the date of realisation on account of mesne profits which have accrued since the institution of the suit subject to payment of court fee on the entire amount after deducting the court fee already paid3. It appears that during the pendency of the aforesaid proceedings the plaintiff, Nawab Ali Raza Khan, has applied for attachment before judgment. One of the properties against which attachment was levied was a plot of land on which stood a cinema building "Prakash Talkies". An objection was filed by the defendants wife, Asmat Jahan Begum, that the property belonged to her. The objection was allowed. But on a suit under Order 21, Rule 63, CPC brought thereafter by the decree holder the property was held to belong to Nawab Nawazish Ali Khan. It seems that the decree holder migrated to Pakistan, and his estate was taken over by the Custodian of Evacuee Property. He proceeded to recover the amount decreed as mesne profits under Section 48 of the Administration of Evacuee Property Act. As the respondent, Smt. Lila Devi, was in possession and claimed that the land on which "Prakash Talkies" stood belonged to her, he levied the recovery proceeding against her. Her objection that the property belonged to her and could not be said to be part of the evacuee estate was overruled by the Assistant Custodian of Evacuee Property. An appeal was subsequently dismissed by the Assistant. Then she filed a writ petition in the High Court of Allahabad. The writ petition was dismissed by a learned Single Judge. A special appeal filed by her against the judgment and order of the learned Single Judge has been allowed by a Division Bench. Hence this appeal.

Reasoning:
In our opinion, reference to Section 48 can be of no assistance to the appellant. The decree for payment of mesne profit cannot be said to have come into operation. It is a conditional decree. The sum decreed as mesne profits is payable to the decree holder only if the full amount of court fee is paid by him. The decree itself embodies that stipulation. The obligation on the part of ther to pay the mesne profits accrues only on the satisfaction of that condition. Admittedly, the deficiency in court fee has not been removed. Plainly, therefore, the appellant is not entitled to payment of the mesne profits under the decree5. Mr. S. N. Kacker, learned counsel for the respondent, points out that there are a number of other grounds which have been taken by the learned Single Judge in dismissing the writ petition and he seeks to show us that those grounds are unsustainable. In the view taken by us on the short point that arises in this case, we consider it unnecessary to go into those points.