Full Judgment Text
http://JUDIS.NIC.IN SUPREME COURT OF INDIA Page 1 of 6
CASE NO.:
Appeal (civil) 1780 of 2005
PETITIONER:
Ramesh Chand Daga
RESPONDENT:
Rameshwari Bai
DATE OF JUDGMENT: 16/03/2005
BENCH:
B.P. Singh & S.B. Sinha
JUDGMENT:
J U D G M E N T
[Arising out of S.L.P. (Civil) No.8339 of 2004]
S.B. SINHA, J :
Leave granted.
Interpretation of the judgment and order dated 20.1.2000 passed by
the High Court of Madhya Pradesh falls for consideration in this appeal
which arises out of a judgment and order dated 12.3.2004 passed in C.R.
No.110 of 2004, whereby and whereunder the revision application filed by
the Appellant herein from an order dated 11.9.2003 passed by the First
Additional District Judge, Ratlam in execution of a transferred decree from
Family Court, Bombay, was dismissed.
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS BETWEEN THE PARTIES :
An application for judicial separation, maintenance and return of
ornaments/property etc. was filed by the Respondent against the Appellant
herein before the Family Court at Bombay purported to be in terms of
Section 10 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. An alternative prayer was
made therein to the effect that if the ornaments were not returned, a decree
for a sum of Rs.3,25,655/- together with interest thereon from the date of
filing of the application may be passed. In the said proceeding, the
Appellant herein raised, inter alia, a contention that the marriage between
the parties was a nullity. By a judgment and order dated 9.10.1995, the
Family Court allowed the said application in part by granting a decree of
judicial separation, maintenance and return of the ornaments. It was,
however, directed that in the event the ornaments were not returned the
Respondent would be entitled to the value thereof, namely, a sum of
Rs.3,25,655/-. However, no decree of interest on the said sum was passed.
The Family Court directed :
"The respondent is also directed to return all the
articles mentioned in Exh.A-1 attached to the petition
comprising of articles described in Clause A to G totaling
to Rs.3,25,655/-. If he fails to return the articles
mentioned therein as far as possible within one month of
the date of this decree, he shall pay the value thereof
mentioned against the said articles not returned as
mentioned in the list."
The Appellant herein preferred an appeal thereagainst before the
High Court. The Respondent filed a cross-objection in the said appeal as
http://JUDIS.NIC.IN SUPREME COURT OF INDIA Page 2 of 6
regard non-grant of interest on the said sum. By a judgment and order dated
20.1.2000, the High Court set aside the decree of judicial separation upon a
declaration that the marriage between the parties herein was null and void.
The decree as regard grant of maintenance to the Respondent herein as also
her daughter was, however, upheld. The High Court observed :
"As regards the claim of the Respondent for return
of her ornaments and other valuable articles, we find that
the Trial Court has taken into consideration both oral and
documentary evidence in that respect and arrived at the
conclusion that the Respondent wife is entitled to get
back all the Ornaments and Articles mentioned in list
Exhibit ’A’ to the petition or in the alternative price
thereof. We do not see any reason to interfere with that,
except the fact that in case the said ornaments or articles
are not returned by the Appellant to the Respondent, he
will have to pay interest on the price thereof which has
been quantified at Rs.3,25,655/-. In our opinion interest
at the rate of 9% p.a. on the said amount from the date of
the decree of the Trial Court i.e. 9.10.1995 will be proper
and reasonable interest."
(Emphasis supplied)
However, it was directed :
"\005We, however, maintain the decree of the Trial Court
in all other respects. We further partly allow the cross-
objections of the Respondent wife to the extent of
granting interest at the rate of 9% p.a. on the price of
Rs.3,25,655/- from the date of the decree of the Trial
Court i.e. 9.10.1995\005"
The Appellant herein, thus, was not directed to return the ornaments
or articles to the Respondents within a time frame. The only direction was
to pay interest on the price thereof from the date of the decree of the Trial
Court i.e. 9.10.1995 only in the event of the Appellant’s failure to return the
same to the Respondent.
Two applications for grant of special leave to appeal against the said
judgment of the High Court were filed by the parties herein. Leave having
been granted by this Court, the appeals were marked as Civil Appeal
Nos.1774 and 1775 of 2001.
We may, however, notice that in Special Leave Petition (Civil)
No.8195 of 2000 giving rise to Civil Appeal No.1774 of 2001, a limited
notice was issued by this Court confining it to the question as to whether
’the wife is entitled to maintenance after the court held that the marriage was
nullity’.
In the meanwhile, the Respondents herein initiated an execution
proceeding. The Appellant by a letter dated 15.3.2000 called upon the
Respondent herein to come personally to Ratlam to get all the ornaments and
other articles mentioned in the list ’A’ of the order of the Family Court dated
16.12.1995. In the said letter, it was stated :
"If you will not come within 15 days after receipt
of this letter otherwise you should be responsible for not
receiving the ornaments and articles mentioned in the
order/judgment. You will not be entitled to claim the
amount with interest mentioned as a price of the
ornaments and articles described in the list."
http://JUDIS.NIC.IN SUPREME COURT OF INDIA Page 3 of 6
Together with the said letter a Demand Draft of Rs.2,000/- drawn in
the name of Smt. Rameshwari G. Lakohitia was annexed. In response to the
said letter, the Respondent herein only returned the demand draft contending
that the same should be drawn up in the name of Smt. Rameshwari R. Daga.
The Appellant thereafter filed an application before the Executing
Court expressing his intention to return the ornaments on 31.3.2003
whereupon the matter was directed to be placed on 1.4.2003, on which date
an objection was raised by the Respondent as regard, weight as also quality
of the ornaments produced in court. The matter was directed to be placed
on 29.4.2003, on which date the Respondent having not been accompanied
by her advocate or male companion and allegedly having regard to the safety
of the ornaments stated that she would like to come to court on the next date
for the said purpose. Ultimately the ornaments were delivered to the
Respondent on 2.7.2003. The quality and quantity of the ornaments, thus,
were not disputed.
Despite the same, the learned Family Court, keeping in view the
judgment and order dated 20.1.2000 passed by the High Court, directed
payment of interest on the aforementioned sum of Rs.3,25,655/- by the
Appellant from the date of the original decree i.e. 9.10.1995.
The Appellant herein being aggrieved by and dissatisfied with the
said order filed a revision application before the High Court which by
reason of the impugned judgment dated 12.3.2004 was dismissed by a
learned Single Judge holding :
"In my considered opinion, the learned A.D.J. had
not committed any error. It is noteworthy that Bombay
High Court had not fixed any date by which ornaments
and other articles had to be returned. As per decree
interest was payable since the date on which the Family
Court had decreed the case i.e. from 9.10.1995. Thus,
the liability to pay interest had already commenced since
9.10.1995. Simply because the applicant had given a
notice of 15 days on 15.3.2000 to the non-applicant to
come and take her ornaments and other articles, the
liability to pay interest under the decree of the Bombay
Court could not be put into abeyance. Executing Court
had to execute the decree as the same was, it could
neither add anything to it or substract anything from it\005"
The Appellant is, thus, before us.
Before adverting to the rival contentions raised at the Bar, we may
notice that the aforementioned two civil appeals filed by the parties herein
came up for hearing and by a judgment and order dated 13.12.2004, both the
appeals were dismissed. The said judgment has since been reported in 2004
(10) SCALE 391.
THIS COURT’S JUDGMENT :
This Court in its aforementioned judgment and order dated
13.12.2004 upon interpreting Section 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955
upheld the judgment and decree passed by the learned Family Court
holding :
"It is well known and recognized legal position
that customary Hindu Law like Mohammedan Law
permitted bigamous marriages which were prevent in all
Hindu families and more so in royal Hindu families. It is
only after the Hindu Law was codified by enactments
including the present Act that bar against bigamous
marriages was created by Section 5(i) of the Act.
Keeping into consideration the present state of the
http://JUDIS.NIC.IN SUPREME COURT OF INDIA Page 4 of 6
statutory Hindu Law, a bigamous marriage may be
declared illegal being in contravention of the provisions
of the Act but it cannot be said to be immoral so as to
deny even the right of alimony or maintenance to a
spouse financially weak and economically dependant. It
is with the purpose of not rendering a financially
dependant spouse destitute that Section 25 enables the
court to ward maintenance at the time of passing any type
of decree resulting in breach in marriage relationship."
However, as regard the matter relating to grant of interest it was
observed :
"We are told that the order of the High Court in so
far as it directs the husband to return ornaments of the
wife or its equivalent value in the sum of Rs.3,25,655/-
with 9% per annum, is a subject-matter of a separate
appeal. We, therefore, express no opinion with regard to
the same."
SUBMISSIONS :
Mr. Sushil Kumar Jain, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the
Appellant would contend that having regard to the judgment and order
passed by the High Court dated 20.1.2000, the Executing Court, and
subsequently the High Court, committed a serious error of law in directing
payment of interest. The learned counsel submitted that in view of the fact
that no time was fixed for return of the ornaments, and the Appellant having
offered the same to the Respondent within a reasonable time, no interest on
the said sum of Rs.3,25,655/- was payable.
Mr. S.C. Birla, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the
Respondent, on the other hand, would contend that the reliance placed by the
Appellant herein on the letter dated 15.3.2000 is misconceived as no such
letter was issued. According to the learned counsel only a demand draft
dated 21.2.2000 was sent to the Respondent, which was returned by her in
terms of a letter dated 13.4.2000 stating that the same should have been
drawn up in the name of Smt. Rameshwari R. Daga.
Mr. Birla would submit that in view the judgment and order of the
High Court dated 20.1.2000 as also the judgment of this Court dated
13.12.2004, the dispute between the parties had attained finality and, thus,
the same could not have been reopened in the executing proceeding and in
that view of the matter, the High Curt has rightly dismissed the revision
application filed by the Appellant herein.
CONSTRUCTIN OF THE JUDGMENT :
A judgment, as is well known, is not to be read as a statute. A
judgment, it is trite, must be construed upon reading the same as a whole.
For the said purpose the attendant circumstances may also be taken into
consideration. [Islamic Academy of Education and Another vs. State of
Karnataka and Others \026 (2003) 6 SCC 697, M/s Zee Telefilms Ltd. & Anr.
Vs. Union of India & Ors. \026 JT 2005 (2) SC 8 and P.S. Sathappan vs.
Andhra Bank Ltd. \026 (2004) 11 SCC 672]
The Family Court in its judgment and order dated 9.10.1995 did not
grant any interest on the said sum of Rs.3,25,655/-. An alternative, decree
was only passed to the effect that the Respondent would be entitled to a sum
of Rs.3,25,655/- in the event, the ornaments are not returned to the
Respondent by the Appellant herein.
A decree in the nature of mandatory injunction directing a party to the
suit to deliver certain movable property in favour of the Appellant cannot be
equated with a decree for payment of a specified sum.
http://JUDIS.NIC.IN SUPREME COURT OF INDIA Page 5 of 6
The High Court moreover did not allow the cross objection filed by
the Respondent herein in its entirety. It was allowed only in part.
The question of the Appellant’s paying the price of the ornaments’
value at Rs.3,25,655/- together with interest @ 9% p.a. from the date of the
decree of the Family Court dated 9.10.1995 could have been the subject-
matter of the Execution Petition only if the Appellant did not return the same
to the Respondent within a reasonable time. The High Court did not
interfere with the judgment of the Family Court to the effect that the
Respondent was entitled to get back all the ornaments except the fact that in
case the said ornaments or articles are not returned by him, he will have to
pay interest on the price thereof. Thus, the question of payment of interest
would have arisen only in the event of the Appellant’s failure to return the
ornaments to the Respondent.
We have noticed hereinbefore that whereas the Family Court directed
the Appellant herein to return the ornaments within one month from the date
of the decree, and only on his failure to do so he was made liable to pay the
value thereof. The High Court while upholding that part of the decree, did
not fix any time therefor. In absence of any direction having been issued by
the High Court upon the Appellant to return the ornaments within the time
specified therefor, the ornaments could be returned by him to the
Respondent within a reasonable time. The order of the High Court,
therefore, was a conditional one. The Appellant herein offered delivery of
the ornaments to the Respondent by his letter dated 15.3.2000. The receipt
of the said letter has been disputed before us but from a scrutiny of the
records it does not appear that the said contention was raised before the
courts below. No such contention had been raised before the High Court. In
fact the High Court wrongly proceeded to hold that the Appellant could not
have avoided his liability merely by giving the said notice of 15 days on
15.3.2000. Issuance of the said notice by the Appellant as also the contents
thereof, therefore, had not been denied or disputed by the respondent.
The High Court moreover misconstrued and misinterpreted its earlier
judgment dated 20.1.2000. It failed to notice that the direction upon the
Appellant to pay interest was subject to the condition that if he did not return
the ornaments, the direction to pay interest on the aforementioned amount
of Rs.3,25,655/- would operate, and it was thus not an unconditional
decree. If the Appellant had fulfilled the conditions specified in the
judgment, the question of his incurring the liability to pay the price of the
ornaments specified by the High Court did not arise.
Thus, the direction upon the Appellant to return the ornaments is not
concomitant with the order to pay the price thereof. The second direction
was, thus, a conditional one which comes into operation only upon non-
fulfillment of the first direction. Thus, by reason of the first direction no
decree to pay interest on a specified sum was passed. In that view of the
matter, if no occasion had arisen for paying the aforementioned sum of
Rs.3,25,655/-, the question of paying any interest thereupon would not arise.
Neither the Family Court nor the High Court had directed payment of any
interest on the ground of deliberate and wrongful withholding of the
ornaments by the Appellant. Even on the said count, no interest could have
been directed to be paid but what could be directed was payment of
compensation.
As this Court in its earlier judgment had no occasion to consider the
effect of the judgment dated 9.10.1995 passed by the Family Court,
Bombay and the judgment dated 20.1.2000 passed by the High Court of
Bombay, the same did not attain finality.
CONCLUSION :
We are, therefore, of the opinion that the judgment of the High Court
is not sustainable which is set aside accordingly. The appeal is allowed.
http://JUDIS.NIC.IN SUPREME COURT OF INDIA Page 6 of 6
However, in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, we direct the
Appellant to bear the costs of the Respondent in this appeal which is
quantified at Rs.10,000/-. The said sum shall be paid to the Respondent by
the Appellant within four weeks from date.