Kamta Nath Seth, J. - (1.) The following question has been referred to this Bench for its opinion: - - "Is Sec. 6 of U. P. Act No. 37 of 1972 ultra vires of the Constitution being violative of Article 14 thereof -
(2.) Prior to its amendment by Sec. 6 of the Uttar Pradesh Civil Laws Amendment Act (Act No. 37 of 1972), Sec. 115 of the Code of Civil Procedure was amended by U. P. Act 14 of 1970. Sec. 3 of the aforesaid Act provided that for the words 'High Court' wherever occurring in Sec. 115, the words 'High Court or District Court' shall be substituted, and that at the end the following proviso shall be inserted: "Provided that nothing in this Sec. shall be construed to empower the District Court to call for the record of any case arising out of an original suit of the value of twenty thousand rupees or above."
(3.) U. P. Act 37 of 1972 passed by the State Legislature received the assent of the President of India on 12 -9 -1972 and was published in the U. P. Gazette dated 16 -9 -1972. A notification under Sec. 3 (1) of the Act appointing 20 -9 -1972 as the date of its enforcement was published in the Gazette of the same date. As amended by Sec. 6 of the U. P. Act 37 of 1972, Sec. 115, Civil Procedure Code now reads: - - "The High Court in cases arising out of original suits of the value of twenty thousand rupees and above, and the District Court in any other case may call for the record of any case which has been decided by any Court subordinate to such High Court or District Court, as the case may be, and in which the appeal lies thereto, and if such subordinate court appears; (a) to have exercised a jurisdiction not vested in it by law, or (b) to have failed to exercise a jurisdiction so vested, or (c) to have acted in the exercise of its jurisdiction illegally or with material irregularity, the High Court or the District Court may make such order in the case as it thinks fit.";