POLLOCK, J. - (1.) ON 10th February 1937 an agreed decree for Rs. 7900 payable by instalments was passed against the defendants. At that time the C.P. Education of Interest Act was in force. Sub-section (1) of Section 3 of that Act provides that interest shall not be recoverable from any debtor in respect of any period after 1st January 1932 save at the rate shown in the schedule. Sub-section (3) provides: If a decree has already been passed on the basis of a debt and remains unsatisfied in whole or in part, the Court which passed the decree, shall, on the application of the judgment-debtor, amend it by reducing, in accordance with the provisions of Sub-section (1), the amount decreed on account of interest.
(2.) AFTER the decree had been passed the judgment-debtors applied under Section 3(3) to the Court to reduce the amount of interest allowed in the decree. The lower Court held that a decree passed after the Act came into force could not be re-opened under Section 3(3), If interest in excess of the amount allowed in Section 3(1) is included in the decretal amount, then it is clearly open to the judgment-debtor to appeal or to apply for review. In my opinion, the lower Court was correct in holding that Section 3(3) was intended to apply only to decrees passed before the Act came into force. The scheme of Section 3 is first to provide for claims not decreed and then for claims already decreed. If Sub-section (3) were intended to apply to a decree passed at any time, whether before the Act came into force or after, I do not think that it would read "if a decree has already been passed." It cannot be assumed that the word "already" is entirely superfluous, and the only meaning that I can give it is, "if a decree has been passed before the Act came into force." The application for revision is dismissed with costs. Counsel's fee Rs. 15.;