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TMI Blog1963 (3) TMI 62X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... imha Rao --------------------- jagannadha Rao II Satyanarayanamurthi (1st respondent) (2nd respondent) Srivatsankara Rao (5th respondent) ---------------------- Narasimha Rao Subba Rao (3rd respondent) (4th respondent) Narasimha Rao had taken loans on promissory notes from the ancestors of the present appellants, and a suit was filed for ₹ 50,000 odd in 1941 against the family. That suit was O. S. No. 52 of 1941. In that suit, an application was made by the respondents, claiming to be agriculturists, for the scaling down of the amount. The plaintiffs in the case denied that the defendants were agriculturists. The suit, however, ended in a compromise decree for ₹ 37,000/- on August 23, 1945, as against the claim for ₹ 50,964-1-9. It appears that some payments were also made towards this decretal amount. On February 21, 1949, the judgment-debtors made another application in the suit (Interim Application No. 279 of 1949) for scaling down the decretal amount on the ground that they were agriculturists entitled to the benefits of the Act, as amended in 1948. The decrec-holders have raised three defences, (i) that the Amending Act was not applicable in view of th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Court then considered the second question, and differing from the Subordinate Judge, came to the conclusion that the judgment-debtors were agriculturists and entitled to have the decree scaled down. The decree-holders have appealed. Before dealing with the questions that arise in this case, a few more facts relevant to the question whether the judgment-debtors can be considered to be agriculturists or not, may be stated. The family, it is admitted, owned two villages, namely, Kalagampudi and Pedamamidipalli, which were an estate as defined in the Madras Estates Land Act. The villages belonged to Valluri Jagannadha Rao 1, the original holder, and were his self-acquired properties. jagannadha Rao I executed a will in respect of these and other properties on March 20, 1902 (exh. A 17). By that Will, he gave a life-estate in the two villages to his two sons--Valluri Srivatsankara Rao and Valluri Narasimha Rao- and an absolute estate to such of the sons of these two as might be living at the termination of each of the life estates, respectively. The will provided further that if any of his sons left no son , the sons of his other son would be absolutely entitled to the properties at the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nt ; or (b) holds an interest in such land under a landholder under the Madras Estates Land Act, 1908, as tenant, ryot or undertenure holder ; or x x x x x x x Provided that a person shall not be deemed to be an 'agriculturist' if he- (D) is a landholder of an estate under the Madras Estates Land Act, 1908, or of a share or portion thereof, whether separately registered or not, in respect of which estate, share or portion any sum exceeding five hundred rupees is payable as peshkash, or any sum exceeding one hundred rupees is payable under one or more of the following heads, namely, quitrent, jodi, kattubadi, poruppu or other due of a like nature, or is a janmi under the Malabar Tenancy Act, 1929, who is liable as such janmi to pay to the State Government any some exceeding five hundred rupees as land revenue." The word 'Person' is defined by cl. (i) of s. 3 as including an undivided Hindu family. The contention of the judgment-debtors was that there were two persons who were legatees under the will. They took the villages not as ancestral properties but as self- acquired properties and the peshkash payable on these two villages must be divided be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... er the judgment-debtors were agriculturists or not, the High Court was not interfering in revision with a finding of fact, but was drawing the correct inference from evidence it had itself ordered to be recorded before considering the law applicable to the case. In our opinion, this objection has no validity. It was next argued that the respondents cannot claim the benefit of the Act, because the compromise decree must be considered to have become a final decree and the second clause of s. 16 of the Amending Act and not the third applied, and in any event, the respondents were concluded by the compromise decree which operated as res judicata. To understand this argument, it is necessary to read s. 19 of the Act and s. 16 of the Amending Act. Section 19 of the Act was amended by the addition of sub-s. (2) in 1948. Section 19, as amended, reads :- "19 (1) Where before the commencement of this Act, a court has passed a decree for the repayment of a debt, it shall, on the application of any judgment-debtor who is an agriculturist or in respect of a Hindu joint family debt, on the application of any member of the family whether or not he is the judg- ment-debtor, or on the appli ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... which are not final and which remain to be executed either wholly or in part, are subject thereto, but the proviso states that in scaling down such decrees, the decree holder would not be required to refund any sum which might have been paid or realised by him. No distinction is made between decrees passed after contest and decrees passed on compromise. Both the kinds of decrees are amenable to the provisions of s. 19 (2) and also of s. 16 (iii). There being no distinction between decrees passed after contest and decrees passed on compromise, the words "in which the decree or order passed has not become final" in cl. (ii) of s. 16, cannot be held to refer to a compromise decree but to decrees which are final such as final decrees for foreclosure, etc., in suits on mortgages. The prevailing interpretation of the section in the High Court is preferable in view of the generality of the words used in ss. 19 (2) and 16 (iii). In any event, it would be improper to unsettle a view of law which has now become inveterate. This case was governed by s. 16 (iii), read with s. 19 (2) and the respondents were entitled to broach the question of the scaling down of the decree once again. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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