GADDAM CHINNA VENKATA RAO Vs. KORALLA SATYANARAYANAMURTHY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In my judgment the answer to the question referred should be in the affirmative, but before indicating my reasons I will set out the essential facts.

(2.) The respondents sued in the Court of the District Munsiff of Amalapuram to recover the sum of Rs. 1,450-1-3, which they claimed to be due on a promissory note executed by the first appellant on the 27 January, 1937. The plaintiffs case was that the first defendant (the first appellant) borrowed Rs. 3,000 on a promissory note dated the 12 December, 1934; on the 27 January, 1937, there was due on this instrument Rs. 4,359 , on that date the first defendant repaid in cash Rs. 3,059 and in respect of the balance of Rs. 1,300 he executed the promissory note in suit. The first defendant's two sons were joined as defendants. The defence was that the note of the 12 December, 1934, really represented what was due in respect of a loan of Rs. 2,000 advanced in 1925; on the 23 October, 1929, the first defendant repaid a sum of Rs. 1,900; by this payment and the payment of Rs. 3,059 on the 27 January, 1937, he had repaid altogether more than double the amount borrowed in 1925 and by virtue of the provisions of the Madras Agriculturists Relief Act nothing was due by him.

(3.) The main questions which the District Munsiff was called upon to decide were: (i) whether the promissory note dated the 12 December, 1934, was executed in respect of cash advanced on that date or represented the balance of what was due on an earlier transaction, and (ii) if the promissory note in suit did not represent a new cash transaction, in what manner was the sum of Rs. 3,059, admittedly paid on the 27 January, 1937, to be appropriated? The District Munsiff found that the promissory note of the 12 December, 1934, represented an entirely new cash transaction and he held that the Rs. 3,059 should be appropriated under Section 9 of the Agriculturists Relief Act. On this basis he calculated that the plaintiffs were entitled to Rs. 2 74-11-4 and he passed a decree for this amount with interest.