Amir Beg vs Chedami Lal

W. Comer Petheram, C.J.—I think that this appeal must be allowed, and the sale set aside. It may be--I am not in a position to say whether it is so or not--that in this particular case no harm has been done. Whether that is so or not, this way of dealing with property is, in my opinion, a dangerous one, and such as should not be allowed by the Court. The statute says that when the Immovable property of a judgment-debtor is to be sold in execution of a decree, the time and place of the sale are to be notified, in order that the whole of the neighbourhood may be made aware of it, so that the debtor''s property may be sold to the best advantage. Further, the time to be notified must be the time of the commencement of the sale, in order that all intending purchasers may be enabled to be present during the whole of the proceedings, to see how the biddings go, and that all who are interested in the property sold may see that there is a fair competition and a good sale. This being so, I consider that a sale which was advertized to begin at 11 A.M. but in fact began at 7 A.M., was vitiated by more than a mere irregularity in conducting the sale, for the mistake went to the very root of the whole proceeding. The statute authorizes a sale which is to be conducted at a time and place properly notified, and a sale otherwise conducted is not a sale at all within the meaning of the statute. I am therefore of opinion, not merely that there was an irregularity in the sale, but that there was, practically speaking, no sale at all. The whole proceeding must therefore be set aside, and the parties will revert to the rights which they had before. The appeal is allowed, but without costs, as the purchaser was wholly innocent.

Brodhurst, J.

Concurred.