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TMI Blog1941 (2) TMI 14X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ts in the plaint. The suit culminated in a decree passed by the trial Court on 13th August 1936, which was finally affirmed by this Court in S. A. No. 456 of 1938. The plaintiff's claim for khas possession in respect of the lands in suit was allowed, and it was further declared that he would be entitled to recover mesne profits from the defendants, which would be ascertained on an application made by him under Order 20, Rule 12, Civil P.C. The plaintiff obtained delivery of possession of the property in suit through Court, and then started the present proceeding for ascertainment of mesne profits as directed by the preliminary decree. During the pendency of the proceeding two of the judgment-debtors applied to the Debt Settlement Board ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... learned advocate on a decision of Edgley J. which is to be found reported in Revati Mohan Roy v. Bhikchand Bhuiyan Now a debt, as defined in Section 2 (8) , Agricultural Debtors Act, includes all liabilities incurred prior to 1st January 1940, of a debtor in cash or in kind, secured or unsecured, whether payable under a decree or order of a civil Court or otherwise and whether payable presently or in future. Then follows a list of exceptions, item (i) of which excludes from the category of debt any liability the payment of which is contingent. Strictly speaking, this is not a definition, but a description of the term 'debt,' and the description has both a positive and a negative aspect, which set out the limits within which the expr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a decree is passed against him making him liable for a definite sum. Then he becomes a debtor by reason of the judgment, and a judgment debt would certainly come within the purview of the Agricultural Debtors Act. In the present case the preliminary decree in the title suit must be taken to have only determined that the defendants were trespassers and hence liable to pay mesne profits to the plaintiff. It is only when a final decree for a specified sum is passed against them as a result of the investigation that is now proceeding, that they would become debtors in law, and their liability to pay the sum fixed by the judgment would rank as a debt. 4. It was held in Jones v. Thomson (1858) 27 LJQB 234 that a claim for damages does not beco ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... an Roy v. Bhikchand Bhuiyan upon which reliance has been placed by the learned advocate for the petitioner arose out of a suit for accounts which was commenced by a landholder against his agent. The suit was stayed by the Munsif on receipt of a notice under Section 34, Bengal Agricultural Debtors Act, and the order was upheld by my learned brother Edgley J. The learned Judge was of opinion that the unascertained liability of the defendant in an account suit not being a contingent liability within the meaning of excep. (i) of Section 2 (8), Bengal Agricultural Debtors Act, was a debt liable to be dealt with under the provision of the Act. I am in entire agreement with my learned brother that the liability could not be said to be a contingent ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Bench of this Court in Nur Mia v. Noakhali Nath Bank , that on the question being raised before a civil Court, the latter was both competent and bound to determine whether the liability involved in the proceedings before it was a 'debt' within the meaning of the Act. This view was accepted by Edgley J. in Revati Mohan Roy v. Bhikchand Bhuiyan referred to above. It is true that the law has been changed by the Amending Act 8 of 1940; and under Section 20 of the Amended Act, when a question arises before a board, as to whether a liability is a debt or not, it is the board that is, given the right to decide the matter. In the present case, the application for settlement of the debt was presented by the petitioners long before the Amend ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ion (1) of Section 11 provides that the statement shall include the names and addresses of the creditors, the total amount claimed by each creditor to be owing to him in respect of each debt, so far as is known to the debtor, and a note whether each such claim is admitted by the debtor. Clause (b) of Sub-section (2) which deals with an application by a, creditor similarly speaks of the total amount of every debt claimed by the creditor to be owing to him by the debtor. The words the total amount of debt claimed show conclusively that what is contemplated is a specific liquidated demand on the part of the creditor against the debtor. In my opinion, therefore, in order to constitute a debt under the Bengal Agricultural Debtors Act, two cond ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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