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TMI Blog1999 (8) TMI 857X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... early date. The same is challenged in this revision. 4. The learned counsel for petitioner submitted that the impugned order is patently incorrect in view of section 22 of the Act. The learned counsel submitted that the application to set aside the ex parte decree passed by the civil court is maintainable before the civil court. The Tribunal gets jurisdiction to set aside an ex parte decree only if the decree is passed by it and not by the civil court. Emphasis was laid on clause ( g ) to sub-section (2) section 22 of the Act wherein it is said thus : Setting aside any order of dismissal of the application for default or any order passed by it ex parte [ Emphasis supplied ] 5. As against the said submission, the learned counsel for the first respondent submitted that under Chapter III of the Act read with section 31 of the Act, the jurisdiction of the civil court is taken away completely and even in regard to interlocutory applications, the power is vested only with the Tribunal constituted under the Act and not by the civil court. 6. The only question that requires consideration is, whether the civil court has got jurisdiction to consider the application unde ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... (except the Supreme Court and a High Court exercising jurisdiction under articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution) in relation to the matter specified in section 17. 31. Transfer of pending cases. (1) Every suit or other proceeding pending before any court immediately before the date of establishment of a Tribunal under this Act, being a suit or proceeding the cause of action whereon it is based is such that it would have been, if it had arisen after such establishment, within the jurisdiction of such Tribunal, shall stand transferred on that date to such Tribunal : Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall apply to any appeal pending as aforesaid before any court. (2) Where any suit or other proceeding stands transferred from any court to a Tribunal under sub-section (1), ( a )the court shall, as soon as may be after such transfer, forward the records of such suit or other proceeding to the Tribunal; and ( b )the Tribunal may, on receipt of such records, proceed to deal with such suit or other proceeding, so far as may be, in the same manner as in the case of an application made under section 19 from the stage which was reached before such transfer or from any ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ide under order 9, rule 13 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908. 13. In that case, their Lordships further considered about the jurisdiction of the court to entertain an application under Order 9, rule 13 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908, and whether it should be before the court which passed the decree or whether before the court to which the business of court has been transferred. Relying on section 150 of the Civil Procedure Code, it was held thus : "This court has held in a number of decisions that where the business of a court is transferred to another court, it is only the latter court that can decide the question raised. In Srinivasa Rao v. Hanumantha Rao, AIR 1922 Mad 10, a Bench of this court held that the expression the court by which the decree was passed cannot be taken to be limited to the original court and that rule 13 of Order 9 is an enabling one which prescribes what is to be done in the ordinary course to get an ex parte decree set aside. The learned judges pointed out that the rule does not say that the court that passed the decree is the only court that can set it aside and there is nothing restrictive in the wording. They accordingly held that the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ny law for the time being in force in respect of suits and proceedings of the nature referred to in the Explanation ; and ( b )be deemed, for the purposes of exercising such jurisdiction under such law, to be a district court or, as the case may be, such subordinate civil court for the area to which the jurisdiction of the Family Court extends. It is significant to note that the jurisdiction conferred is the entirety of the jurisdiction exercised by all the civil courts in respect of the categories of the suits and proceedings mentioned in the Explanation to section 7 and that while exercising such jurisdiction there is a statutory deeming that the Family Courts shall be deemed to be civil courts of different categories for the area to which the jurisdiction of such Family Court extends. In the light of the above provision in section 7, we would hold that all the jurisdiction which the Sub-Court, Irinjalakuda, had in respect of the suit and the ex parte decree passed therein have stood vested or conferred statutorily on the Family Court, Ernakulam, as per section 7(1) of the Act and on the establishment of the Family Court, that court alone has got exclusive right to ex ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of by them prior to the establishment of the Family Court would stand statulorily excluded and vested in the Family Court established for the areas within their jurisdiction and only such Family Court would have thereafter jurisdiction to entertain any application or petition in such disposed of matters and to dispose of them in accordance with law." 15. In the aforesaid case, their Lordships also took note of a decision of the Rajasthan High Court in Union of India v. Anandi Lal [1995] 1 CCC 559, wherein a Central Government employee obtained a decree in a civil suit before the commencement of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985, for recovery of arrears of pay and allowance. The decree became final and in 1986, the decreeholder filed an application to execute the decree before the civil court which passed the decree. A contention was raised that the execution petition was not maintainable before the civil court and only Tribunals constituted under the Administrative Tribunals Act will have jurisdiction even to execute decrees which had become final before the constitution of the Tribunal. The Rajasthan High Court upheld the objection and held that the Tribunals alone ha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nterpretation which is capable of embracing any adjudication or a legal step in a matter relating to and connected with the recovery of a debt due to the financial institutions. ***** In the context in which the word proceeding is used in section 31 of the Act, it must be given a wide and comprehensive meaning and cannot be confined as referring to an original civil proceeding. It would take in its sweep any matter for judicial adjudication and include ( i ) a proceeding which is not an original proceeding ; ( ii ) a proceeding which is interlocutory in nature; ( iii ) a proceeding during the course of the suit; and ( iv ) a proceeding subsequent to the passing of the decree. The present application is a matter for judicial adjudication. Even otherwise it is a step envisaged by the Civil Procedure Code being an application under Order 9, rule 13 of the Civil Procedure Code, and therefore, would be a proceeding within the meaning of section 31 of the Act." (pp. 282-283) 17. Taking into consideration these decisions, I am of the view that the order of the lower court is correct. It has held that it has no jurisdiction to deal with the matter. What is the procedure to be ado ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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