Case: Iftikhar Ahmed And Others Vs. Syed Meharban Ali And Others

2. In order to appreciate the question in issue, the following pedigree isappellants are the legal representatives of Ishtiaq Ahmed. In the consolidation proceedings under the Act with respect to the properties in question which originally belonged to Buniyad Ali, dispute arose between Ishtiaq Ahmed on the one hand and Meharban Ali and Kaniz Fatima on the other hand as regards the title to them. Meharban Ali and Kaniz Fatima claimed that they were co-bhumidhars of the properties along with Ishtiaq Ahmed. Ishtaq Ahmed contended that all the assets of Buniyad Ali were inherited by his son Aftab Ali and that after the death of Aftab Ali in 1910 and his widow in 1925, he became the exclusive owner of the properties as the other heirs had relinquished their rights in them. Ishtiaq Ahmed also claimed title to the properties by adverse possession. As the dispute between the parties was concerned with the title to the properties, the consolidation Officer referred the matter to the Civil Judge, Meerut who referred the same to an arbitrator appointed under the Act. The arbitrator held that Meharban Ali and Kaniz Fatima had no title and so were not co-bhumidhars of the properties with Ishtiaq Ahmed. For reaching this conclusion the arbitrator mainly relied on a judgment of the High Court of Allahabad which, according to the arbitrator, operated as res judicata between the parties with respect to the title to the properties.3. Both the parties filed objections to the award before the learned II Civil Judge, Meerut. He held that the judgment of the High Court relied on by the arbitrator did not operate as res judicata between the parties as regards the title to the properties and that the decision of the arbitrator, based as it was on that judgment operating as res judicata, was manifestly wrong and the award was consequently vitiated by an error of law apparent on the face of the award. He, therefore, set aside the award and remitted the case to the arbitrator for fresh decision.4. The arbitrator Mr. B. P. Gupta considered the case. He came to the conclusion, on the basis of the oral and documentary evidence, that the parties were co-bhumidhars of the properties except in respect of 9 bighas 3 biswas and determined their shares in the properties. The arbitrator was of the view that the judgment of the High Court was not res judicata as regards the title of the parties to the properties.Against this award, Ishtiaq Ahmed filed objections before the II Civil Judge, Meerut. The Civil Judge considered the objections and found that there was no manifest error or illegality in the award and he confirmed the award.5. Ishtiaq Ahmed preferred an appeal from this decision before the District Judge. Ishtiaq Ahmed died during the pendency of the appeal and his legal representatives, the present appellants, prosecuted the appeal. The district Judge held that the award suffered from an error of law apparent on the fact of the record in that the arbitrator ignored the judgment of the High Court which operated as res judicata as regards the title of the parties to the properties. He, therefore, allowed the appeal and set aside the decree appealed from and remitted the case to the arbitrator for a fresh decision.The respondents filed a revision before the High Court against the decision of the District Judge and the High Court reversed the decision and restored the decree passed by the Civil Judge confirming the award.

Court's reasoning:
8. There can be no doubt that by the written statement, Ishari Prasad, the mortgagee, denied the title of Kaniz Fatima and Meharban Ali to the properties and set up the contention that Matlub-un-nissa, the mortgagor, from whom Ishtiaq Ahmed traced his title, alone was entitled to the properties. There was, therefore, an actual conflicting of interest between the Ishtiaq Ahmed on the one hand and Kaniz Fatima and Meharban Ali on the other, and it was necessary to decide the conflict in order to give relief to the defendant (Ishari Prasad) and the Court decided that the properties belonged exclusively to the mortgagor, the mother of Ishtiaq Ahmed.Now it is settled by a large number of decisions that for a judgment to operate as res judicata between or among co-defendants, it is necessary to establish that (1) there was a conflict of interest between co-defendants; (2) that it was necessary to decide the conflict in order to give the relief which the plaintiff claimed in the suit and (3) that the Court actually decided the question.Inthe award, the arbitrator has stated that the judgment of the High Court in the second appeal would not operate as res judicata as regards the title to the properties but was only a piece of evidence. The arbitrator came to the conclusion that the respondents were in joint possession of the properties and therefore, there was no ouster. If the judgment operated as res judicata. the respondents had no title to the properties. There was no finding by the arbitrator that by adverse possession they had acquired title to the properties at any point of time. The question which was referred to the arbitrator was the dispute between the parties as regards the title to the properties. If the judgments of the High Court operated in law as res judicata, it would be an error of law apparent on the face of the award if it were to say that the judgment would not operate as res judicata. The District Judge was, therefore, right in holding that the award was vitiated by an error of law apparent on its face in that it was based on the proposition that the judgment of the High Court would not operate as res judicata on the question of title to the properties. If an award sets forth a proposition of law which is erroneous, then the award is liable to be set aside under Section 30 of the Arbitration Act. This Court has held that the provisions of the Arbitration Act will apply to proceedings by an arbitrator under theIt might be recalled that the II Civil Judge set aside the first award and remitted the case to the arbitrator for passing a fresh award under Section 16 of the Arbitration Act. That was only on the basis that the arbitrator committed an error of law in relying upon the judgment of the High Court as finally determining the title to the properties. As no appeal under Section 39 of the Arbitration Act lay from an order remitting an award to an arbitrator under Section 16 of the Arbitration Act, Ishtiaq Ahmed could not have challenged the order. There is, therefore, no reason why the appellants should be precluded from challenging the correctness of that order in this appeal and getting relief on that basis.