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TMI Blog1953 (11) TMI 29X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ovince of Bengal the first, second and third floors of premises No. 73, Dharmatolla Street, in the town of Calcutta for a term of three years commencing from the 1st day of February, 1947, yielding and paying unto the lessor therefore during the said term a monthly rent of ₹ 1,800 only clear of all deductions by equal monthly payments on the 5th day of each and every month for the month immediately preceding and also the sum of ₹ 150 per quarter towards payment of occupier's share of municipal taxes. By the lease the lessee covenanted that he would, during the said term, use the demised premises only for a hostel for the students of the Campbell Medical School and shall not at any time during the said term use the demised premises or any part thereof for any other purpose whatsoever. The lessee further agreed to pay the costs of and incidental to the lease. On the 15th August, 1947, the partition of India took place and, amongst other things, two new provinces came into existence, namely, West Bengal and East Bengal, in place of the old Province of Bengal. The Province of West Bengal formed part of the Dominion of India and is now the State of West Bengal in the Uni ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t at ₹ 1,800 per month from February, 1947, to January, 1948, ₹ 600 as occupier's share of municipal tax for the same period and ₹ 523-9-3 being the costs of and incidental to the lease, aggregating to ₹ 22,723-9-3. During the pendency of this suit the appellant paid ₹ 9,250 being the arrears of rent and taxes from the 15th August, 1947, but denied liability for the arrears of rent or taxes for any period prior to that date or for the costs of the lease. 5. The case was heard by Sinha J., who by his judgment dated the 10th August, 1947, held, amongst other things, that the lease was entered into for purposes which as from the 15th August, 1947, were exclusively purposes of the Province of West Bengal and that under article 8(2)(a) of the said Order the appellant was clearly liable for the rents which had accrued previous to the appointed day, that is to say, the 15th August, 1947, and decreed the suit for ₹ 13,473-9-3 with costs and interest on judgment at 6 per cent. The Province of West Bengal preferred an appeal from the judgment but a Division Bench of the said High Court (Harries C.J. and Banerjee J.) affirmed the decree and dismissed ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... u v. Province of West Bengal AIR1950Cal463 , and by Kapur J. in The State of Punjab v. L. Mohan Lal Bhayana A.I.R. 1951 P h 382. The phrase loans, guarantees and other financial obligations occurred in section 178 in Part VII of the Government of India Act, 1935, and there cannot be any doubt that those expressions used in that section did not refer to all and sundry pecuniary obligations of the State arising out of contracts of every description. The loans and guarantees there referred to meant, it would seem, the special kinds of contracts relating to the State loans and State guarantees. In that context financial obligations would mean obligations arising out of arrangement or agreements relating to State finance such as distribution of revenue, the obligation to grant financial assistance by the Union to any State or the obligation of a State to make contributions and the like. It is, however, not necessary or desirable to attempt an exhaustive definition of the expression financial obligations. The court will have to consider in each case whether a particular obligation which may be the subject-matter of discussion falls within the expression financial obligations with ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the demised premises or any part thereof for any other purpose whatsoever. The lessee further agreed to pay the costs of and incidental to the lease. On the 15th August, 1947, the partition of India took place and, amongst other things, two new provinces came into existence, namely, West Bengal and East Bengal, in place of the old Province of Bengal. The Province of West Bengal formed part of the Dominion of India and is now the State of West Bengal in the Union of India while the Province of East Bengal became and is still a part of the Dominion of Pakistan. The Indian Independence Act, 1947, by section 9 empowered the Governor-General, amongst other things, to make such provision as appeared to him to be necessary or expedient for dividing between the new provinces to be constituted under that Act the powers, rights, properties, duties and liabilities of the provinces which under that Act were to cease to exist. In exercise of that power the Governor-General promulgated an Order called the Indian Independence (Rights, Property and Liabilities) Order, 1947, hereinafter referred to as the said Order, to deal with the powers, rights, property, duties and liabilities of the respecti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... West Bengal and that under article 8(2)(a) of the said Order the appellant was clearly liable for the rents which had accrued previous to the appointed day, that is to say, the 15th August, 1947, and decreed the suit for ₹ 13,473-9-3 with costs and interest on judgment at 6 per cent. The Province of West Bengal preferred an appeal from the judgment but a Division Bench of the said High Court (Harries C.J. and Banerjee J.) affirmed the decree and dismissed the appeal with costs. The State of West Bengal which took the place of the Province of West Bengal applied for leave to appeal but that application was dismissed. The State of West Bengal thereafter applied for and obtained special leave to appeal from this court and the appeal has now come up before us for final disposal. 6. The learned Advocate-General of West Bengal appearing in support of this appeal fairly and frankly conceded that in the absence of anything else this case would be wholly covered by article 8(2)(a) but contended that by virtue of article 8(6) that article was to have effect subject of the provisions of article 9. In the circumstances the question whether the contract was for purposes which as from t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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