Hadinbai vs Smt. C.H. Parwati and Another

S.K. Jha, C.J.

This Civil Revision Application has been purported to be filed under Sub-section (3) of Section 388 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925. The impugned order has been passed on 28-3-1989 in an appeal by the District Judge, Bastar at Jagdalpur, being Civil Appeal No. 11/88. The learned District Judge has passed the order in an appeal from the order dated 15-7-1988 passed by the Civil Judge (Class-I), Jagdalpur, in Succession Case No. 5/84. The entire value of the ''property in respect of which a succession certificate has been claimed by the present applicant Smt. Hadinbai, is Rs. 12,066.00 only comprising two properties; one is for Rs. 10,000.00 under the Family Benefit Scheme and the other is for Rs. 2,066.00 lying to the credit of the deceased C. H. Dharmarao in his G.P.F. Account. These are the only two items in respect of which succession certificate has been claimed to be granted.

When the case was taken up for hearing, Shri S. C. Pandey, learned counsel for the N.As., raised a preliminary objection with regard to the maintainability of this Civil Revision Application. He submitted that there is no revisional power conferred on the High Court under Sub-section (3) of Section 388 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 and if at all revision could lie, it could lie only u/s 115 of the Code of Civil Procedure. No Civil Revision is maintainable in the High Court u/s 115 of the CPC as amended by the M. P. State; and since the valuation of the case out of which these proceedings have arisen is less than Rs. 20,000.00, the High Court is not empowered to entertain any such civil revision application. There is sufficient force in the preliminary objection of learned counsel for the N.As.

Section 388(3) of the Indian Succession Act lays down as under :

"An order of a District Judge on an appeal from an order of an inferior Court under the last foregoing sub-section shall, subject to the provisions as to reference to and revision by the High Court and as to review of judgment of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), as applied by Section 141 of that Code, be final."

This provision merely contemplates revision by the High Court under the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure. This does not confer upon the applicant any substantive right of revision before the High Court under the Succession Act. It merely envisages a revisional order passed by the High Court u/s 115 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

As has already been pointed out above, if at all a civil revision could be entertained in the instant case, it would be by the High Court since the District Judge has passed the impugned order in an appeal from an order of a subordinate Court. But under the M. P. amendment, the High Court has not been vested with any revisional power in cases arising out of original suits or other proceedings of the value of less than Rs. 20,000.00. The value of the properties involved in the succession case being Rs. 12,066.00 only, no civil revision is maintainable u/s 115 of the CPC as amended by the M. P. amendment. This civil revision application is, therefore, misconceived and is not maintainable. Learned counsel for the applicant was not able to satisfy me as to how any substantive right of revision has been conferred under any of the provisions of the Succession Act de-hors the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure.

This civil revision application is accordingly dismissed as not maintainable. There shall, however, be no order as to costs.