Telangana High Court
Smt. J. Mary Manoranjani J.M.M. Ranjani vs M/S. Margadarsi Chit Fund Private ... on 4 November, 2024
THE HONOURABLE SMT. JUSTICE M.G.PRIYADARSINI
CIVIL REVISION PETITION No.2612 of 2024
O R D E R:
This Civil Revision Petition is filed by the revision petitioners/judgment debtors aggrieved by the proceedings in E.P. No.66/2023 on the file of learned Junior Civil Judge, Mahabubnagar filed for enforcement of Arbitration Award in ARB No.211/2021 dated 11.08.2022 without there being proper transfer of award by the Arbitrator to the Civil Court.
2. For the sake of convenience, hereinafter, the parties will be referred as per their array in the Arbitration proceedings before the learned "Arbitrator/Registrar of Chits".
3. The revision petitioners herein are the judgment debtors/guarantors before the learned Arbitrator. The respondent No.2 herein was subscriber of chit with respondent No.1 and revision petitioner Nos.1 to 3 and respondent Nos.3 to 5 stood as guarantors for the said chit transaction. The respondent No.2 herein stood as successful bidder in the auction held on 24.06.2018 and after deducting the bid amount, Rs.18,85,720/- was paid to respondent No.2. The guarantors including the present revision petitioners have executed demand promissory notes and other necessary 2 MGP,J Crp_2612_2024 documents in favour of respondent No.1. The respondent No.2 paid 29 installments and thereafter committed default in payment of installments. Hence, the respondent No.1 has approached the Registrar of Chits/Arbitrator for recovery of Rs.16,05,981/- under Section 64 of the Chit Fund Act, 1982. After due enquiry, the learned Registrar of Chits/Arbitrator has passed an award, dated 11.08.2022. Thereafter, the respondent No.1 approached the learned Junior Civil Judge at Mahabubnagar by filing execution proceedings vide E.P.No.66 of 2023. In this regard, attachment of salary of revision petitioners/judgment debtor Nos.2 to 4 was ordered under Order XXI Rule 48 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Aggrieved by the same, the present Civil Revision Petitioner is filed by the Judgment Debtor Nos.2 to 4.
4. Heard both sides and perused the record including the grounds of revision.
5. The first and foremost contention of the revision petitioners is that until there is a transfer of the award by the Arbitrator as required under rule 55 of the Chit Funds Rules, the civil court has not jurisdiction to entertain Execution Petition for enforcement of the award and also recovery certificate. In this regard, the learned counsel for the revision 3 MGP,J Crp_2612_2024 petitioners relied upon a decision in Punyamurthula Venkata Vishwasundar Rao v. Margadarshi Chits Private Limited 1 wherein the Division Bench of High Court of Andhra Pradesh observed that executing Court does not have any jurisdiction to entertain application for execution of the award passed by the Arbitrator, without there being transfer of the award to the civil court for the purpose of execution. It is the specific case of the revision petitioners that without there being any transfer of the award to the executing court for the purpose of execution of the award, the executing court directly entertained E.P.No.66/2023 and issued notices to the petitioners for execution of the award.
6. There is absolutely no doubt in the principle laid down in the above said decision. It was observed in the above said decision that execution proceedings should be initiated by the party concerned in accordance with the provisions of Section 71 of the Chit Funds Act. The procedure for filing an execution petition in the civil Court is only through the Registrar who shall forward the application for execution to the proper authority along with a certificate issued by him under Section 71 of the Chit Fund Act. Section 71 of the Chit Funds Act confers the status of a decree of a civil Court, on the certificate 1 2017 (3) ALD 387 4 MGP,J Crp_2612_2024 issued by the Registrar. However, a perusal of the record discloses, that a copy of the letter No.24/2022 issued by the Deputy Registrar of Chits/Arbitrator at Mahabubnagar addressed to the Junior Civil Judge, Mahabubnagar is filed. A perusal of the said letter No.24/2022 dated 20.12.2022 discloses that as required under Section 71 (a) of the Chit Fund Act, 1982, an application is filed by the disputant i.e., respondent No.1 herein for execution of award and recovery certificate issued by the Deputy Registrar of Chits/Arbitrator in ARB No.211/2021 and based on the said letter the Deputy Registrar of Chits/Arbitrator has submitted the Award and recovery certificate to the Junior Civil Judge, Mahabubnagar.
7. The E.P. No.66 of 2023 was alleged to have been filed on 15.02.2023 and the above mentioned letter was addressed by the Registrar of Chits/Arbitrator to the Junior Civil Judge, Mahabubnagar on 20.12.2022 i.e., much prior to filing of the Execution Proceedings. It appears that after receipt of award and recovery certificate, the Execution Petition No.66 of 2023 was entertained by the learned Junior Civil Judge, Mahabubnagar. Thus, it cannot be said that the disputant/respondent No.1 has not complied with the rule 55 of the Chit Fund Rules.
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8. The revision petitioners/judgment debtors failed to establish that there is any irregularity or illegality while proceeding with the execution proceedings in E.P.No.66 of 2023.
9. Accordingly, the Civil Revision Petition is dismissed. There shall be no order as to costs.
Pending Miscellaneous applications, if any, shall stand closed.
_______________________________ JUSTICE M.G.PRIYADARSINI Date: 04.11.2024 AS