J.V. Gupta, J. - (1.) THIS is a petition under Article 227 of the Constitution of India, directed against the order of the Collector, Hoshiarpur, dated 26th February, 1982 whereby an application under Section 4 of the Redemption of Mortgages (Punjab) Act, 1913 was dismissed on the ground that the Court had no jurisdiction to try it.
(2.) SMT . Nishat R. Amber mortgaged land measuring 23 kanalg 10 marlas, comprised in Khasra numbers, as given in the application, for a consideration of Rs 20,000/ -. She executed mortgage deed on 19.2.1978 and got it registered. After depositing the sum of Rs. 20,000/ - in the Government Treasury, she filed an application under Section 4 of the aforesaid Act, praying that the land in dispute be ordered to be redeemed. This application was contested on behalf of the Respondents, inter alia on the ground that the Revenue Court had no jurisdiction to try the case in view of the provisions of Clause (b) of Sub -section (3) of Section 1 of the aforesaid Act, as the mortgage amount exceeds Rs. 5,000/ -. After hearing the Learned Counsel for the parties I am of the considered view that the learned Collector in this respect was wrong. Sub -section (3) of Section 1 of the Act reads as under: (3) It shall apply only to mortgages of land - (a) in which, whatever the mortgage money, the land mortgaged, after excluding the area of any share in the common land of the village or of a sub -division of the village appertaining thereto and mortgaged therewith, does not exceed in area 50 acres; (b) in which, whatever the area, the principal money secured under the mortgage does not exceed 5,000 rupees; This matter came up for consideration before Letters Patent Bench of this Court in Uggar Singh and Anr. v. Gumdeor Singh, (1960) 62 P.L.R. 848. After reproducing the relevant provisions in paragraph 5 thereof, it was observed: It is clear that the only type of mortgage which is excluded from the application of the Act is a mortgage in which the area exceeds fifty acres and also the principal money secured exceeds Rs. 5,000/ -. All other mortgages are covered by either Clause (a) or Clause (b). The present case falls under Clause (a), because the area does not exceed fifty acres and, therefore, even though the sum secured exceeds Rs. 5,000/ - the Act applies by virtue of the provisions of Section 1(4) (a). It was, therefore, held that reading of these two clauses together, a mortgage falls beyond the provisions of this Act only if the area mortgaged exceeds fifty -acres and also the amount of money secured exceeds Rs. 5,000/. Only, one of these conditions was satisfied in that case. Admittedly, in the instant case, the area mortgaged is only 23 Kanals 10 Marlas which is much less than 50 acres as provided in Clause (a) of Sub -section (3) of section (1). In this view of the matter, the Collector has failed to exercise the jurisdiction vested in him under the Act. V
(3.) AS a result of the foregoing discussion, this petition succeeds and is allowed. The impugned order dated 26th February, 1982 passed by the Collector, Hoshiarpur is set aside. The case is sent back to the Collector for proceeding further with the application in accordance with law. 5 The parties have been directed to appear before the Collector, Hoshiarpur on 29th November, 1983. October 28, 1983.;