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PETITIONER: SYEDABAD TEA CO. LTD.

       Vs.

RESPONDENT: STATE OF BIHAR

DATE OF JUDGMENT30/11/1982

BENCH: VENKATARAMIAH, E.S. (J) BENCH: VENKATARAMIAH, E.S. (J) SEN, A.P. (J) MISRA, R.B. (J)

CITATION:  1983 AIR   72            1983 SCR  (1) 878  1983 SCC  (1)  30        1982 SCALE  (2)1110

ACT:      Interpretation of  statutes - Legal fiction - Should be carried to its logical end to achieve the desired result.      West  Bengal   (Transfer  of   Territories)  Act,  1956 Sections 17 and 47- Scope of.

HEADNOTE:      In 1951 three pieces of land belonging to the appellant situated in  Bihar were acquired by the State of Bihar for a public purpose.  When appeals  against the  judgment of  the District Judge enhancing the compensation payable in respect of these  lands were pending before the Patna High Court the West Bengal  (Transfer of  Territories) Act,  1956 came into force in  consequence of  which  the  acquired  lands  stood transferred to the State of West Bengal. The appeals pending before the  Patna High  Court were, however, not transferred to the Calcutta High Court, nor was the State of West Bengal substituted in  place of  the State of Bihar. The Patna High Court dismissed tho State’s appeals.      In the  execution petitions the appellant impleaded the State of Bihar as the judgment-debtor but the State of Bihar raised an  objection that since the lands were then situated is the  State of  West Bengal  it was  that State  which was liable to pay the decretal amounts.      Upholding this contention the executing court dismissed the execution petition. This was upheld by the High Court.      Allowing the appeal, ^      HELD: Section  17 of  the Act  enjoins that  only  such proceedings pending  in the  High Court of Patna immediately before the  appointed day  as are  certified  by  the  Chief Justice of  that High  Court having  regard to  the place of accrual of the cause of action and other circumstances, have to be  transferred to the High Court of Calcutta which means that if  there is  no such  certification they  have  to  be disposed of by the High Court of Patna even though the cause of action  might have accrued in any part of the transferred territories as that court continues to exercise jurisdiction over those cases. [862 E-G]      In the instant case since there was no such certificate the High  Court of  Patna rightly  disposed of  the appeals.

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[882 G] 879      Under s.  47 of the Act the State of West Bengal should be deemed  to have  been substituted  for the State of Bihar even though  no such  order had  been  passed  on  a  formal application  for   substitution.  When  the  law  says  that something should  be deemed  to have  been done,  the  legal fiction should  be carried to its logical end to achieve the desired result.  The decrees  must, therefore,  be deemed to have been  passed by  the High  Court of  Patna against  tho State of  West Bengal when the appeals were dismissed by the Patna High Court.                                           [882 H; 883 A-C]      By virtue  of Section 47 the State of West Bengal would be bound by the decrees or orders made in respect of matters referred to  therein against  the State of Bihar both before and after  the appointed  day even  though the State of West Bengal is  not formally  brought on  record in  the place of State of  Bihar. In all such cases the State of Bihar should be considered  as effectively representing the State of West Bengal. [883 D-E]      There is  no merit  in the submission that the interest accrued on  the amounts of compensation uptodate or upto the date on  which the  notices were served on the State of West Bengal should  be disallowed.  The executing court cannot go behind the decree. [883 B-C]

JUDGMENT:      CIVIL APPELLATE  JURISDICTION: Civil Appeals Nos. 2563- 2565 of 1969.      From the judgment and order dated the 17th May, 1968 of the Patna High Court in original order Nos. 283-285 of 1963.      M.L. Lahoty, S.C. Patel and H. Roy for the Appellant.      G.S. Chatterjee, for the Respondent-State of Bengal.      KG.  Bhagat   Additional  Solicitor   General  and   D. Goburdhan for the Respondent, State of Bihar.      The Judgment of the Court was delivered by      VENKATARAMIAH, J.  The question involved in these three appeals by certificate relates to the liability of the State of Bihar  to pay  the amount  of compensation  in respect of lands which  after their  acquisition by  it under  the Land Acquisition Act  stood transferred  to  the  State  of  West Bengal  under   the  Bihar  and  West  Bengal  (Transfer  of Territories) Act,  1956 (Act  No.  40  of  1956  hereinafter referred to as ’the Act’).      The facts  of these  cases may  be briefly stated thus: Three pieces  of land  belonging to the appellant which were situated in  village Madati in the District of Purnea in the State of Bihar were 880 acquired under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act by the State  of Bihar  in the  year 1951  for a certain public purpose. After  the  Land  Acquisition  officer  passed  the awards in  respect  of  the  said  lands,  the  question  of determination of  proper compensation  was referred  to  the District  Judge,   Purnea  under  section  18  of  the  Land Acquisition Act  at  the  instance  of  the  appellant.  The District Judge  by his  judgment and award dated May 7, 1954 enhanced the  compensation payable  in  each  of  the  three cases. Against that judgment, the State of Bihar filed three appeals before  the High  Court of  Patna in  the year 1954. When the  appeals were pending before the High Court the Act was passed  and it came into force on the appointed day i.e.

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November 1,  1956. Under  the Act,  the area  in  which  the acquired lands  were situated stood transferred to the State of West  Bengal. The  appeals were, however, not transferred to the  Calcutta High  Court. The  State of  West Bengal was also not  substituted in  the place of the State of Bihar in the appeals.  The appeals  were dismissed  by the Patna High Court after  hearing the  counsel for  the State of Bihar on March 8,  1960. The  appellant  thereafter  filed  execution petitions in  the Court  of the  Additional  District  Judge impleading the  State of  Bihar as  the judgment  debtor  in 1961. The  State of Bihar raised objections to the execution proceedings by way of petitions under section 47 of the Code of Civil Procedure in March, 1962 stating that its liability under the  decree had  ceased by virtue of the provisions of the Act  and that  the State  of West  Bengal  within  whose jurisdiction the  acquired lands were situated was liable to pay the  decretal amounts.  The executing  court upheld  the plea of  the State  of Bihar  and  dismissed  the  execution petitions by  its order  dated July  9, 1963.  The appellant preferred appeals  against the orders of the executing court before the  High Court  of Patna. The said appeals were also dismissed. Hence these appeals.      It should  be stated here that the State of West Bengal had not  been impleaded  as a  party either in the executing court or  in the  High Court.  In these  appeals by an order made by  this Court  in the  year 1972,  the State  of  West Bengal was impleaded as a respondent in each of these cases.      The  decision  in  these  appeals  turns  on  the  true construction of  the relevant provisions of the Act since it is not  disputed that  the acquired lands are transferred to the State  of West  Bengal under  the Act. Section 47 of the Act reads:           "47. Legal proceedings. - Where immediately before      the appointed day, the State of Bihar is a party to any      legal 881      proceedings with  respect to  any  property  rights  or      liabilities transferred  to the  State of  West  Bengal      under this  Act, that  State  shall  be  deemed  to  be      substituted for  the State of Bihar as a party to those      proceedings, or  added as  a party thereto, as the case      may be, and the proceedings may continue accordingly."      Section 48  of the  Act  deals  with  the  transfer  of proceedings arising  from the  transferred  territories  and pending immediately  before the appointed day before a court (other than  the High  Court) tribunal, authority or officer in the  State of Bihar to the corresponding court, tribunal, authority or officer in the State of West Bengal. We are now concerned with  the proceedings  pending in  the High Court. Section 17 of the Act is the relevant provision dealing with them. It reads thus:           "17. Extension of jurisdiction of, and transfer of      proceedings to, Calcutta High Court-      (1)  Except as hereinafter provided,           (a)    the  jurisdiction  of  the  High  Court  at                Calcutta, shall,  as from  the appointed day,                extend to the transferred territories; and           (b)   the High  Court at Patna shall, as from that                day, have  no jurisdiction  in respect of the                transferred territories.      (2)   Such proceedings  pending in  the High  Court  at           Patna immediately  before the appointed day as arc           certified by  the Chief Justice of that High Court           having regard to the place of accrual of the cause           of  action   and  other   circumstances,   to   be

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         proceedings which ought to be heard and decided by           the High  Court at  Calcutta shall, as soon as may           be after such certification, be transferred to the           High Court at Calcutta.      (3)  Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-sections           (1) and (2), but save as hereinafter provided, the           High Court at Patna shall have, and the High Court           at  Calcutta   shall  not  have,  jurisdiction  to           entertain,   hear    or   dispose    of   appeals,           applications for  leave to  appeal to  the Supreme           Court, applications for review and 882           other proceedings, where any such proceedings seek           any relief  in respect  of any order passed by the           High Court at Patna before the appointed day:                Provided that if, after such proceedings have           been entertained  by the  High Court  at Patna, it           appears to  the Chief  Justice of  that High Court           that they  ought to  be transferred  to  the  High           Court at  Calcutta, he shall order that they shall           be  so  transferred  and  such  proceedings  shall           thereupon be transferred accordingly.      (4)  Any order made by the High Court at Patna:           (a)   before the  appointed day in any proceedings                transferred to  the High Court at Calcutta by                virtue of subsection (2) or           (b)   in any proceedings with respect to which the                High Court  at Patna  retains jurisdiction by                virtue of sub-section (3),           shall, for  all purposes, have effect, not only as           an order  of the  High Court at Patna, but also as           an order  made by  the High  Court  at  Calcutta."           (underlining by us)      Sub-section (2)  of section  17 of  the Act states that only such  proceedings pending  in the  High Court  of Patna immediately before the appointed day as are certified by the Chief Justice  of that High Court having regard to the place of accrual  of the  cause of action and other circumstances, have to  be transferred  to the  High Court  at Calcutta. It follows that if there is no such certification, they have to be disposed  of by  the High  Court of Patna even though the cause of  action might  have accrued  in  any  part  of  the transferred territories  as that court continues to exercise jurisdiction over  those cases.  In the  instant case  since there was  no such  certificate, the  High  Court  of  Patna rightly disposed  of the  appeals. The  liability,  however, would be that of the State of West Bengal because of section 47 of  the Act. The State of West Bengal should be deemed to have been  substituted for the State of Bihar even though no such order  had been  passed on  a  formal  application  for substitution. When  the law  says that  something should  be deemed to  have been  done in  a given  case, the said legal fiction should be carried to its 883 logical end to achieve the desired result. The decrees must, therefore, be  deemed to  have been passed by the High Court of Patna  against the  State of West Bengal when the appeals were dismissed  by the Patna High Court. It may be mentioned here that  the State  of West Bengal has not taken any steps to get  those decrees revoked till now before the Patna High Court even  though it had actual notice of those proceedings when notices  in these appeals were served on it. It is also not contended  by the  State of  West Bengal,  and  we  feel rightly, that  the decrees  are not  binding on the State of West Bengal.  The only submission made on its behalf is that

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the interest  that had accrued on the amount of compensation awarded by  the Court upto date or at least upto the date on which the notices issued in these appeals were served on the State of West Bengal should be disallowed. There is no merit in this submission. The executing court cannot go behind the decree. The  judgment debtor  has to pay the entire decretal amount.      By virtue  of section  47 of the Act, the State of West Bengal would  be bound  by the  decrees or  orders  made  in respect of  matters referred to therein against the State of Bihar before  the appointed day and also after the appointed day even  though the  State of  West Bengal  is not formally brought on record in the place of the State of Bihar. In all such cases  the State  of  Bihar  should  be  considered  as effectively representing  the State  of West Bengal. That is the true effect of the ’deeming’ provision contained in that section. In  this situation  the executing court should have been directed  by the  High Court to substitute the State of West Bengal  in the  place of  the State  of  Bihar  in  the execution petitions  and to  proceed to  execute the decrees against the State of West Bengal.      In view  of the  foregoing. these  appeals are allowed, the judgments  of the  High Court and of the executing court are set aside and execution applications are remanded to the executing court  to proceed  with the  execution against the State of  West Bengal  after substituting  the State of West Bengal as  the judgment  debtor in the place of the State of Bihar. In  the circumstances,  the parties  shall bear their costs throughout. P.B.R.                                       Appeal allowed. 884