Case: Brij Bhushan And Another Vs. The State Of Delhi

(1) A decree forof the property in suit was passed in favour of the plaintiff and he was ordered to deposit the sale price within two months from the date of the decree. An appeal was taken against this decision but it was withdrawn. Themoney was not deposited within the time fixed in the decree. Themade an application to the court for making the deposit without disclosing that the time fixed by the decree had elapsed. The application was allowed. The defendant, when apprised of the situation, made an application to the court to the effect that the plaintiffs suit stood dismissed owing to his failure in making the deposit in time and that he was not entitled to execute the decree. The trial Judge held that themoney not having been paid within the time fixed in the decree the suit stood dismissed. On appeal this decision was set aside but on second appeal it was restored and it was held that the suit stood dismissed under Order 20, Rule 14, Civil Procedure Code. Against this decision an appeal was preferred to the Judicial Committee of the State and it is now before us under Article 374(4) of the Constitution.

Court's reasoning:
In our opinion, the High Court was right in holding that thesuit stood dismissed by reason of his default in not depositing theprice within the time fixed in the trial Courts decree. It was next contended that the decree drawn up by the trial Judge was not in accordance with the provisions of Order 20 Rule 14 in that it contained no direction to the effect that if the deposit was not made within the time fixed the suit will standour view, this contention is not sound because the dismissal of the suit is as a result of the mandatory provisions of Order 20 Rule 14 and not by reason of any decision of the Court and the omission to incorporate this direction in the decree could not in any way affect the rights of the parties.