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TMI Blog1959 (9) TMI 50X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... through one Kodumal alleged to be one of the five partners of the said firm, and the service of summons was effected on him as partner of the said firm. None of the other partners was impleaded individually in the suit. On November 8, 1948, the Chief Court, Sind, decreed the suit against the firm. By the time the decree came to be passed, India was partitioned into two Dominions, and the Chief Court, Sind, became a foreign Court, and, therefore, the decree, being one passed by a foreign Court, became inexecutable in India. Thereafter, the appellant filed a suit in the Court of Civil Judge, Agra, being Suit No. 205 of 1949, on the basis of the said foreign judgment. To that suit the firm of Kundomal Gangaram was made the first defendant, re ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e cross-objections on the ground that respondents 3 to 6 were not parties to the appeal or the cross-objections. The High Court also allowed the appeal filed by the partners of the firm Kundomal Gangaram on the ground that the decree was only against the firm and its' assets, and, therefore, it was not executable against the personal properties or the share or shares of the partners in the joint family property. The decree-holder filed the present appeal for establishing his right to proceed in execution against the personal properties of respondents 2 to 6. 2a. The learned Attorney-General, appearing for the appellant, contended that on a true construction of the decree in Suit No. 205 of 1949, on the file of the Court of Civil Judg ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... idually in their own names, but all subsequent proceedings shall, nevertheless, continue in the name of the firm. The gist of the said provisions may be stated thus: A decree against a firm can be executed (i) against the property of the partnership, (ii) against any person who has appeared in the suit individually in his own name and has been served with a notice under Rule 6 or 7 of Order XXX of C. P. C., (iii) against a person who has admitted on the pleadings that he is or has been adjudged a partner, or (iv) against any person who has been served with notice individually as a partner but has failed to appear. The decree against the firm can be executed against the personal property of such persons. 3. So stated the legal positio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in an integrated scheme. So construed, the reasonable interpretation would be that the first part gave a decree against the firm, and the second part confined its operation to the assets of the firm in the hands of its partners. 4. At the worst the decree can be said to be ambiguous. In such a case it is the duty of the executing Court to construe the decree. For the purpose of interpreting a decree, when its terms are ambiguous, the Court would certainly be entitled to look Into the pleadings and the judgment: see Manakchand v. Manoharlal, . In the plaint in the Agra suit, Suit No. 205 of 1949, not only relief was asked for against the firm, but also a personal decree was claimed against defendants 2 to 6. The said defendants inter alia ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rounds that would have been open to the appellant for executing the decree against them under Order XXI, Rule 50, C. P. C., the learned Judge, for specific reasons mentioned by him, refused to give the appellant the said relief and expressly confined it to the assets of the firm in the hands of the partners. 5. The question is whether in such circumstances an executing Court can go behind the decree give the relief to the appellant which was expressly denied to him in the suit. The question so posed can only have one answer. It is a well-settled principle that a Court executing a decree cannot go behind the decree: it must take the decree as it stands, for the decree is binding and conclusive between the parties to the suit. If the con ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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