- (1.) The only point that has been raised in this appeal is that the decision of the Tribunal on issue No. 4 is wrong and erroneous. The Tribunal has made an order scaling down the debts on the application of the appellant who is a displaced debtor. The decree of Inder Singh respondent, however, was of January, 1952, and a point had arisen before the Tribunal whether the provisions of the Displaced Persons (Debts Adjustment) Act (hereinafter called the Act) did not apply to the aforesaid decree. The Tribunal has come to the conclusion that the provisions of the Act did not apply to the decree in question by virtue of the provisions contained in Section 21 of the Act.
(2.) Section 21 of the Act is as follows :- "21. (1) Where, before the commencement of this Act, a decree has been passed by a Civil Court against, or a settlement has been entered into by, a displaced debtor in respect of any debt, the Tribunal shall, on the application of such debtor revise it so as to bring it into accord with the provisions of this Act. (2) In determining the amount due under any such decree or settlement, the Tribunal shall accept as binding the findings of the court which passed the decree or the facts contained in the settlement, as the case may be, to the extent to which the findings on the facts are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act : Provided that the Tribunal shall not determine any claim under any such decree until any appeal or revision filed against it has been finally decided or the period allowed for any appeal therefrom has expired, and in all such cases the finding of the Tribunal shall be passed on the final decree. (3) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, no Tribunal shall in respect of any debt revise any settlement arrived at before the commencement of this Act between an insurance company and a displaced person or between an insurance Company and a displaced bank having an interest in the claim of a displaced person against the insurance company and arriving at such settlement by virtue of that interest, Provided that payment in full has been made in pursuance of such settlement."
(3.) The Tribunal appears to consider that in view of the fact that the decree was passed subsequent to the commencement of the Act it was to be excluded altogether for the purposes of scaling down the debts under the provisions of section 32. This view, however, does not appear to be correct. Section 21 (1) merely provides that decrees which have been passed before the commencement of the Act can be revised so as to be brought in accord with the provisions of the Act. Now this has reference only to section 29 according to which on and from the 15th day of August, 1947, no interest can accrue or can be deemed to have accrued in respect of any debt owed by a displaced person. The position is like this. If a decree has been passed prior to the commencement of the Act in which interest has been awarded for a period subsequent to the 15th of August, 1947, that decree can be revised and the interest can be disallowed while calculating the amount of the debt. Section 21 (1) cannot possibly have, from the language used in it, any reference to section 32 which provides for scaling down of debts. The machinery which has been provided for ascertaining the debts and for their scaling down is contained in the Act and section 21 (1) is relevant only for determining the amount of a decretal debt in a particular case. If the decree was passed before the commencement of the Act, the debt would be calculated after taking into account the provisions of section 29 and if the decree is subsequent, as it was in the present case, then section 29 could not apply and the decree could not be revised. In other words, the total amount of the decree was to be taken to be a debt for the purposes of section 32. In section 32 the words used are - "Where, on the application of a displaced debtor under section 5 or sub-section (2) of section 11, the Tribunal has determined the amount due in respect of each debt in accordance with the provisions of this Act, it shall proceed to determine the paying capacity of the debtor." 'Debt', as defined in section 2(6), means- "Any pecuniary liability, whether payable presently or in future, or under a decree or order of a civil or revenue Court or otherwise or whether ascertained or to be ascertained, which (a) in the case of a displaced person who has left or been displaced from his place of residence in any area now forming part of West Pakistan, was incurred before he came to reside in any area now forming part of India; * * * *";