9911796707
TMI Blog1965 (8) TMI 89X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of law which arises in this appeal is whether the appeal could be heard and disposed of by a single Judge of the High Court. The other questions raised are purely questions of fact. Article 133, cl. (3) of the Constitution clearly provides that notwithstanding anything in the article no appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court from a judgment, decree or final order of one Judge of a High Court unless Parliament by law otherwise provides. Parliament has passed no law rendering the judgment of a single Judge appealable to the Supreme Court. Though this provision does not detract from the power of this Court under Art. 136 to entertain an appeal from a decision of a single Judge, it is the settled practice of this Court not to interfere with a f ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ourt valued at an amount in excess of ₹ 1,000 had to be heard by a Division Bench consisting of two Judges of the High Court. T he appellant's suit and the appeals taken by the respondents from the District Court and the Subordinate Judge were both valued at ₹ 3,000 and, therefore, had ss. 20 and 21 of the Act been in force on the date on which the appeals were instituted unquestionably they would have had to be beard by a Division Bench of two Judges. The aforesaid Act was, however, repealed by the Kerala High Court Act, 1958 being Act No. 5 of 1959 which received the assent of the President on February 6, 1959 and came into force on March 3, 1959. The appeals were placed for hearing before a single Judge overruling, we are ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... h bad accrued to him earlier to have his appeal heard by a Division Bench. The contention was upheld by the High Court. This decision was not approved of in Mahendra v. Darsan(1) on the ground that the right of a party to have an appeal heard by a Division Bench was merely a matter of procedure and could, therefore, be taken away retrospectively by implication. Learned counsel for the appellant also placed reliance upon a decision of this Court in Garikapati Veerara v. N. Subbaiah Choudhury(2) in which the following propositions were laid down : (1) That the legal pursuit of a remedy, suit, appeal and second appeal are really but steps in a series of proceedings all connected by an intrinsic unity and are to be regarded as one legal pro ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... traceable to the provisions of Travancore-Cochin High Court Act of 1949. That Act as its preamble shows was enacted for making provision regulating the business of the High Court of Travancore-Cochin for fixing the jurisdiction of single Judges, Division Benches and Full Benches and for certain other matters connected with the functions of the High Court. It did not purport to confer a right of appeal on the parties, but merely dealt with procedural matters, matters which are dealt with by several High Courts under the Letters Patent. Even the Travancore- Cochin Civil Courts Act, 1951 the provisions of which relate to civil courts subordinate to the High Court does not confer any right of appeal though it divides civil courts into four clas ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... peal heard by a Division Bench his further right of appeal to this Court under Art. 133 was affected and that since that right also vested in him when he instituted the suit it could not be taken away retrospectively except by an express provision. There is a simple answer to this contention. The answer is that once it is held that no party has a vested right to have his appeal to be heard by more than one judge of the High Court, no right to prefer an appeal under Art. 133 can be said to vest in him, the right under which being unavailable in case heard And disposed of by a single judge of the High Court. The argument of learned counsel thus fails. One more point was sought to be urged by learned counsel for the appellant. The point is ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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