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TMI Blog1962 (4) TMI 141X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... now before us own the entire interest in the Subject matter of the suit and instead of using the name of Baboo Mull and Co. we shall name the appellants as the persons who sold the jewellery to the Prince of Berar on January 31, 1937. A writing dated January 31, 1937 was executed by the Prince of Berar respondent before us, by which he declared and acknowledged having purchased the jewellery specified in a schedule from the appellants at the aggregate price of Rs. 13,20,750/-. In that writing (Ex. A) the respondent stated : I promise on behalf of myself and my heirs, executors, administrators and successors to pay to you or to your order at my option and leisure at your abovementioned address the said sum of rupees thirteen lacs twenty thousand seven hundred and fifty only together with simple interest thereon @ 10 % ten per cent per annum. 3. It is not disputed that the jewellery was in fact delivered by the appellants to the respondent, and after January 31, 1937 the respondent passed various acknowledgements in respect of the debt due at the time of the passing of the respective acknowledgements. These documents consisted of an acknowledgement of liability and a pr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aving been finally settled in favour of the appellant, the appellants received a second payment of Rs. 8,75,000/- on February 14, 1950. This amount along with the earlier amount paid to the appellants came to the total of Rs. 20 lacs. which the Committee had recommended should be paid to the appellants in full satisfaction of their claim. On February 14, 1950, a receipt was passed by the appellants for the sum of Rs. 8,75,000/- (Ex. C) and this receipt ran in the following terms : Received from the Controller General of Accounts and Audit, Hyderabad Government, the sum of Rs. 8,75,000/- (Rupees eight lacs and seventy-five thousand) only in full and final payment of the balance of rupees twenty lacs allowed by the Government in respect of my claim under the pronote dated 15 February 1948 passed by the Prince of Berar in my favour, reserving however my right to recover the balance amount due to me under the said pronote from the Prince of Berar. 4. The relevant authorities refused, however, to make payment on the receipt Ex. C in which the appellants reserved their right to recover the balance amount due from the Prince of Berar. Thereupon, the appellants discharged all ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... orsing full satisfaction thereon; therefore, s. 63 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, applied and the suit of the appellants was liable to be dismissed. It accordingly allowed the appeal and dismissed the suit with costs. 8. In the appeal before us Mr. B.R.L. Iyengar appearing on behalf of the appellants has very strongly contended that the view of Coyajee, J. is the correct view on the evidence given in the case. He has emphasised two points in connection therewith : (1) the crucial question is - what does the evidence show as to the intention of the creditor in accepting Rs. 20 lacs ? and (2) what is the effect of Ex. C., a receipt executed contemporaneously with the payment of the second installment of Rs. 8,75,000 ? Mr. Iyengar has argued that the appellate could did not attach sufficient importance to these two points and the conclusion which it reached is vitiated for that reason. As the judgment of the appellate court is a judgment in reversal and the question raised are essentially questions of fact on which there are conflicting findings, we allowed counsel for the parties to place before us the relevant evidence along with the pleadings of the parties. Two of the witn ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f the right of the appellants for the balance. The witness took the document, Ex. C, to Zaheruddin Ahmed who was the Accountant-General then. Zaheruddin Ahmed suggested that the claimant should endorse full satisfaction and payment of all the promissory notes and then only the payment would be made. The witness then said : Thereupon I obtained these endorsements (on the promissory notes) from Kapurchand. Kapurchand whilst endorsing these documents protested that he had been forced to endorse these and he was not at all satisfied. This happened on the 14th of February, 1950. 9. We may here state that no plea was raised by the appellants to the effect that the endorsements on the promissory notes had been obtained by coercion, and no issue was struck between the parties as to the endorsements on the promissory notes having been obtained by coercion. That being the position, what is the effect of Madhava Rao's evidence ? The clear effect is that the authorities who were paying the money in discharge of the debt of the respondent made it clear that they would pay the money only if a full satisfaction of the claim was given by the appellants. The appellants after some i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... esses to whom we have referred is that whatever reluctance Kapurchand might have had in accepting Rs. 20 lacs in full satisfaction of the claim of the appellants, he ultimately agreed to do so. Not only did he agree, but he actually endorsed full satisfaction and payment on all the promissory notes and thereafter he receive payment of the second installment of Rs. 8,75,000/- which along with the first installment of Rs. 11,25,000/- made up the sum of Rs. 20 lacs. On these facts which are established by the evidence given on behalf of the appellants themselves, the only conclusion is that there was full satisfaction of the claim of the appellants. 12. The legal position is clear enough. Section 63 of the Indian Contract Act reads : Every promisee may dispense with or remit, wholly or in part, the performance of the promise made to him, or may extend the time for such performance, or may accept instead of it any satisfaction which he thinks fit. 13. Illustration (c) to the section says : A owes B 5000 rupees. C pays to B 1000 rupees, and B accepts them in satisfaction of his claim on A. This payment is a discharge of the whole claim. 14. It seems to us ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... In either case it is a question of fact. 16. We have already referred to the facts which are clearly established by the evidence in this case. Those facts clearly established that the appellants took the second installment in full satisfaction of their claim. The second decision relied on on behalf of the appellants Neuchatel Asphalte Co. Ltd. v. Barnett [1957] 1 All. R.R. 362 also proceeded on a similar ground. In that case the claim of the plaintiff company amounted to Pounds 259, but the defendant raised some minor question which might reduce it by Pounds 14 or Pounds 15. The defendant then sent a cheque for Pounds 125 and stated in covering letter that this sum was on account pending the receipt of the plaintiff's reply to outstanding queries in connection with the work done. Some time later the defendant enclosed a further cheque for Pounds 75 and on the back of the cheque was endorsed in full and final settlement of the account . The cheque was accepted by the plaintiff company, which later sued for the balance of the amount of the claim. It was held that having regard to the correspondence and the surrounding circumstances, there was no intention on the part o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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