# R~ Jtar!rlislura v. 1 !u StUIOf Bih•r

- **Citation:** [1964] 1 S.C.R. 920
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1964
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/r-jtar-rlislura-v-1-u-stuiof-bih-r-2822
- **Pages:** 6

## Headnote

1963
R~ Jtar!rlislura
v.
1 !u StUIOf Bih•r
1963
F16ruttr,y, 11.
920 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1964] VOL.
liberally construed, it would tend to cover a11 taxes,
because in a loose sense, all taxes raised by the State
can ultimately_ be said to be compensatory in a farfetched manner, and in that way, the well-recognised
constit11tional difference between a tax and a fee will
be obliterated and the provisions of Part XIII of the
Constitution will lose all their significance. Part XIII
contains provisions which constitute a sel,f-contained
code and we need not really travel outside the said pro-
\'ision in determining the validity of the tax imposed
bv the Act. Since we have come to the conclusion that
tlic challenge to the valirlity of the retrospective opera-
! ion of the \ct cannot be sustained, we do not think it
necessary to pursue this matter any further.
In the result, the appeals fail aad are dismissed
with costs.
Appeal dismissed.
JANAPAREDDY LATCHAN NAIDU
v.
JANAPAREDDY SANYASAMMA
(P. B. GAJENDRAGADKAR, K. ~. WANCHOO,
M. HrnAYATULLAH, K. C. D.t.s GUPTA and
j. C. SHAH, .JJ-)
Jfaintf.11a1tce-/)ecree by court charging certain propertie1-
.\-,1lun of •uch decru-lf oon be e.tecutf.d
aq~in•t other prop<l'-
ti<3--Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Act 5 of 1908), •· 47.
•
•
•
The respondent, wife of the appellant, filed an execution
~tition for execution of a 1naintenance dcc:rcc obtained by her
,._.hich, in addition to the personal liability, created a charge for
f
past and future maintenance on three lots of properties. After
obtaining the pcrmi5sion of the Court she purchased two item..
pf the properties subjoct to her 11\~intenance charge.
Later •hi:,
•
1 S'.C:R..
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
921
liled another ezecution petition seeking to bring to sale propertie& other than those purchased by her in the earlier execution.
The appellant made an application under s. 4 7 of the Code of
Civil Procedure to record full sati•faction of the decree on the
ground that by purchasing the properties subject to her charge
she could not maintain a fresh application for the sale of the
other properties. The Subordinate.Judge dismissed!the execution
petition as not maintainable. Ori appeal by the respondent
the High Court reversed the decision of the Subordinate Judge
and ordered the execution to proceed. On appeal by special
leave, this court held :
·
Held, that an executory charge-decree for ·maintenance
becomes executable again a'nd again a• future sums become due.
The cze<1:utabi!ity of the decree keeps the charge alive on the
remaining properties originally charged till the future amounts
cease. The whole of the charge continues over all the proper·
ties jointly and severally and as the charge is different from a
mortgag.:, it io not permissible to seek an analogy from the case
of a mortgage.
HeW., further, that between the appellant and the respon·
dent tbe executini: court cannot order the respondent to proceed
against properties in her possession even though it can make an
election on behalf of the appellant and enforce the charge
against one item in preference to another belonging to him; but
the appellant cannot insist that the respondent should proceed
against the properties acquired by her under the first sale.
CIVIL APPELLATE JuRI·mICTION : Civil Appeal
No. l!l4 of 1961.
Appeal by special leave from the judgment
and order dated July 28, 1!)59 of the Andhra Pradesh
· i
High Court at Hyderabad in C. M. A. No. 12@ of
1956.
P. Ham Reddy, for the appellant.
K. R. Choudhri, E. Udayarathnam and V. O.
Prasliar, for the respondent.
'
1963.
February I I. The .Judgment of the
Court was delivered by
1963
Janapareddy Latcluzn
.Naitlu
v.
J anaparetld y
Sr.myasamma
1963
/"'4;.rJiy L.telwn
NaUu
v.
1"114/xlfeJ~,
Sari1asamma
Hui•,.iullah, /,
922
StJPllME COURT REPORTS [1964] VOL.
HrnA.YA.Tt;LL.i.H, J.-The respondent who is the
wife of the appellant obtained a decree for main·
tenance on August !J, l949, by which the appellant
was ordered t<J pay Rs. 3,000 pe

## Text

1963
R~ Jtar!rlislura
v.
1 !u StUIOf Bih•r
1963
F16ruttr,y, 11.
920 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1964] VOL.
liberally construed, it would tend to cover a11 taxes,
because in a loose sense, all taxes raised by the State
can ultimately_ be said to be compensatory in a farfetched manner, and in that way, the well-recognised
constit11tional difference between a tax and a fee will
be obliterated and the provisions of Part XIII of the
Constitution will lose all their significance. Part XIII
contains provisions which constitute a sel,f-contained
code and we need not really travel outside the said pro-
\'ision in determining the validity of the tax imposed
bv the Act. Since we have come to the conclusion that
tlic challenge to the valirlity of the retrospective opera-
! ion of the \ct cannot be sustained, we do not think it
necessary to pursue this matter any further.
In the result, the appeals fail aad are dismissed
with costs.
Appeal dismissed.
JANAPAREDDY LATCHAN NAIDU
v.
JANAPAREDDY SANYASAMMA
(P. B. GAJENDRAGADKAR, K. ~. WANCHOO,
M. HrnAYATULLAH, K. C. D.t.s GUPTA and
j. C. SHAH, .JJ-)
Jfaintf.11a1tce-/)ecree by court charging certain propertie1-
.\-,1lun of •uch decru-lf oon be e.tecutf.d
aq~in•t other prop<l'-
ti<3--Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Act 5 of 1908), •· 47.
•
•
•
The respondent, wife of the appellant, filed an execution
~tition for execution of a 1naintenance dcc:rcc obtained by her
,._.hich, in addition to the personal liability, created a charge for
f
past and future maintenance on three lots of properties. After
obtaining the pcrmi5sion of the Court she purchased two item..
pf the properties subjoct to her 11\~intenance charge.
Later •hi:,
•
1 S'.C:R..
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
921
liled another ezecution petition seeking to bring to sale propertie& other than those purchased by her in the earlier execution.
The appellant made an application under s. 4 7 of the Code of
Civil Procedure to record full sati•faction of the decree on the
ground that by purchasing the properties subject to her charge
she could not maintain a fresh application for the sale of the
other properties. The Subordinate.Judge dismissed!the execution
petition as not maintainable. Ori appeal by the respondent
the High Court reversed the decision of the Subordinate Judge
and ordered the execution to proceed. On appeal by special
leave, this court held :
·
Held, that an executory charge-decree for ·maintenance
becomes executable again a'nd again a• future sums become due.
The cze<1:utabi!ity of the decree keeps the charge alive on the
remaining properties originally charged till the future amounts
cease. The whole of the charge continues over all the proper·
ties jointly and severally and as the charge is different from a
mortgag.:, it io not permissible to seek an analogy from the case
of a mortgage.
HeW., further, that between the appellant and the respon·
dent tbe executini: court cannot order the respondent to proceed
against properties in her possession even though it can make an
election on behalf of the appellant and enforce the charge
against one item in preference to another belonging to him; but
the appellant cannot insist that the respondent should proceed
against the properties acquired by her under the first sale.
CIVIL APPELLATE JuRI·mICTION : Civil Appeal
No. l!l4 of 1961.
Appeal by special leave from the judgment
and order dated July 28, 1!)59 of the Andhra Pradesh
· i
High Court at Hyderabad in C. M. A. No. 12@ of
1956.
P. Ham Reddy, for the appellant.
K. R. Choudhri, E. Udayarathnam and V. O.
Prasliar, for the respondent.
'
1963.
February I I. The .Judgment of the
Court was delivered by
1963
Janapareddy Latcluzn
.Naitlu
v.
J anaparetld y
Sr.myasamma
1963
/"'4;.rJiy L.telwn
NaUu
v.
1"114/xlfeJ~,
Sari1asamma
Hui•,.iullah, /,
922
StJPllME COURT REPORTS [1964] VOL.
HrnA.YA.Tt;LL.i.H, J.-The respondent who is the
wife of the appellant obtained a decree for main·
tenance on August !J, l949, by which the appellant
was ordered t<J pay Rs. 3,000 per year to her on the
28th day of February of every year with interest at
6% per year if the payment was not made on the due
sate. The decree included ascertained amounts as
arrears of past maintenance and other items to which
detailed reference is not necessary. In addition to
the personal liability the decree created a charge fr'r
past and future maintenance on three lots of properties.
The respondent filed execution petition No. 91
of 1952 for execution of the maintenance decree and
sought to bring the properties charged by the dei.:ree
to sale.
She purchased two items of the properties
for a sum of Rs. 20,200 subject to her maintenance
charge after obtaining the permission of the Court.
Later she filed execution No. 43 of 1955 seeking to
bring to sale properties other than those purchased
l.Jy her in the earlier execution. The appellant also
liled an application under s. 4 7 of the Code of Civil
Procedure to record full satisfaction of the decree on
the ground that the respondent by purchasing the
properties subject to her charge could not maintain
a fresh application for the sale of the other properties.
The Subordinate Judge of Vi>akhapatnam
upheld the contention of the appellant and dismissed
the execution petition as not maintainable.
The
respondent appealed to the Hi!h Court. The Hiith
Court reversed the decision of the Subordinate Judge
and ordered the execution to proceed. The appellant
has now appealed after obtaining special leave from
this Court.
The short question is whether the decree_ must
be held to be satisfied because the respondent purchased in an earlier execution one lot of properties
subject to her charge for maintenance.
Learned .
' '
• •
• •
I
..
•
•
•
1 s.c.ll. SUPREME COURT REPORTS
!123
counsel for the appellant contends that the respondent mus1 now look to the properties purchased by
her for satisfaction of her claim in respect of main·
tenance past or future. In the alternative he contends
that execution against the properties in his possession
cannot proceed till the respondent has first proceeded
against the properties with her.
In our opinion
neither proposition is correct.
The maintenance decree passed by the Subor·
dinate Judge of Visakhapatnam is not only a declaratory decree
but also an executory decree.
It
provides that the appellant shall pay to the respon·
dent Rs. :l,00() per year as maintenance on the
28th day of February of every year as long as she
lives.
When
the first execution was levied the
amounts due up lo J unc 28, 1!152, were realised by
the sale of the properties of lots I and 2.
The res·
pondent as the auction-purchaser deposited Rs. 6,010
to\)'ards the balance of the purchase price after deductipg the maintenance amount under the decree as it
thon stood. The present execution concerns the sum
which fell due between
June 28, 1952,
and
February 28, Hl55.
Included in this sum
are
Rs. 8,000 towards maintenance and Rs. 867·8-0
towards costs.
The contention of the appellant is that the
respondent having purchased the first lot of properties
subject to the charge cannot now recover this amount
from the properties remaining with the appellant.
In other words, the appellant contends that there is
some kind of merger of the right under the mainte·
nance decree with the right arising from the auction
purchase and the respondent can enforce her' right
only against those properties which she has purchased
and not against properties which remain with the
appellant.
The argument involves a fallacy because it
ISSume& th"t a charge created by a decree on a
i963
J1u1apareddy Lcteha
Naidu
v.
JaMpa1'i4:J
StUIJaamma
flid•yatulloh, J,
196'
!~:iLatcJ.m
v.
,..,,,.,,..,,
s_...
Hid41.i.lloh, J.
924 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1964] VOL.
number of properties disappears when the chargeholder in execution of the charge-decree purchases
one lot of properties. An executory charge-decree
for maintenance becomes ex~cutable again and again
as future sums become due.
The executability of
· the decree keeps the charge alive on the remaining
properties originally charged till the future amounts
cease.
In other words the charge subsists as long as
the decree subsists.
By the execution the charge is
not transferred in its entirety to the properties purchased by the charge·holder.
Nor is the charge
divided between those properties and those which
still remain with the judgment debtor.
The whole
of the charge continues over all the properties jointly
and severally. ~or is any priority established between
the properties purchased by the charge-holder and
those that remain. It is not permissible to seek an
analogy from the case of a mortgage.
A charge is
different from a mortgage. A mortgage is a transfer of
an interest in property while a charge is merely a right
to receive payment out of some specified property.
The forru~r is described as jns in rem and the latter
as only a Jus ad rem.
In the case of a simplt"
mortgage, there is a personal liability express or
implied but in the case of charge there is no such
personal lial;ility and the decree, if it seeks to charge
the judgment-debtor personally, has to do so in
addition to the charge. This being the distinction it
apor.ars to us that the appell;mt's contention that the
cori>eq uences of a mortgagee acquiring a share of the
mortgagor in a portion of the mortgaged proprety
obtain in the case of a charge is ill-founded. The
charge can be enforced against all the properties or
severally.
In the present case
the respondent could
proceed at her option to recover the arrears of maintenance as they fell due from any of the properties
which were the subject of the charge, that is to say,
those which were in the p<>llllC8Sion and ownership of
•
•
•
•
l S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
925
the appellant and those in the possession and ownership as auction-purchaser.
There is nothing in law
which requires the respondent to proceed against the
properties which she had earlier purchased.
There is
no question of marshalling of these properties. It is
true that the Court may decide which of the properties charged should be sold and in what order and the
Court does choose between different properties when
ordering sale. To that extent the Court can assist
a judgment-debtor. But this can only be in respect
of the properties which the judgment-debtor holds
and against which
the charge-holder
wants to
proceed. But the Court cannot say to the, chargeholder that he must exhaust his remedies over and
over again against the properties purchased by him
in execution of his charge-decree and subject to his
own charge.
Therefore, between the appellant and
the respondent the Court cannot order the respondent
to proceed against properties in her possession even
though it can make an election on behalf of the
appellant and enforc~ the charge against one item in
preference to another belonging to him .
In our opinion the respondent was entitled to
proceed against the remaining properties in the hands
of the appellant which continued charged.
The
executing court may, of course, sell only such items
as may be sufficient to meet the present dues under
the decree but the appellant cannot insist that the
respondent should proceed against the properties
•
acquired by her under the first sale. We express no
opinion on the question whether the decree can re
__personally executed against the appellant because
that question did not arise here. The appeal accordingly fails and is dismissed with costs.
...
.
Appeal dismissed.
I!lf3
Janapor1dJy Latd,an
Nllidu
"·
I a..pare#y
S111yas1tnm•
Hid1ydullah, J,
/