Manilal Virchand Banker vs A.C. Bussel

Macleod, C.J.—The plaintiff filed this suit to recover the amount decreed to him by a decree of the High Court of Judicature in England, dated December 30, 1918, for �154-12-2 and �5-8-0 for costs. He claimed that the amount in sterling should be calculated in rupees at the rate of Rs. 15-8-0 per pound. The learned Judge raised an issue:

At what rate should the sovereign be valued for the purposes of this suit,

and considered that in view of the clear provision of Section 11 of the Indian Coinage Act (36 of 1920) the plaintiff could not be allowed to claim in rupees more than Rs. 1.0 per sovereign. The appellate Judge agreed with that finding. Section 11 of the Indian Coinage Act merely provides that in India the sovereign will be good tender for Rs. 10, that is to say if A owes B Rs. 10 in Indian coinage, then if he tenders a sovereign, that will be recognized as good tender. But for the converse it is not correct to say that if A owes B one pound in England he can discharge that debt in India by tendering Rs. 10. Clearly the question here is how the sterling debt can be liquidated in rupees; and the amount of rupees must be calculated at a certain rate of exchange, to be fixed by the Court. It was decided by Pawcett, J., in a similar case Madhavji Vishram Thacker v. Ramniklal Wadilal AIR 1923 Bom. 437 after a review of all the authorities on the question, that in a suit on a judgment of the High Court in England the rate of exchange to be adopted should be the rate prevailing at the date of that judgment. We think that that decision should be followed.

Therefore, the appeal must be allowed and the amount of the decree will be the rupee equivalent of �168-10-2 at the rate of exchange on December 30, 1918.

Decree for that amount and costs in proportion. The rest of the decree will stand.