LAWS(PVC)-1933-3-176

OFFICIAL ASSIGNEE OF BOMBAY Vs. MOULVI ABDUL HAYEE

Decided On March 29, 1933
OFFICIAL ASSIGNEE OF BOMBAY Appellant
V/S
MOULVI ABDUL HAYEE Respondents

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal by the Official Assignee from a judgment of Mr. Justice Wadia. The point raised is a very short one, but not altogether free from difficulty.

(2.) The insolvents were a firm called the White Kerosene & Mineral Oil Co., and before the insolvency they were minded to employ the present respondent Moulvi Abdul Hayee as a sub- agent on the terms of an agreement which was prepared in draft, under which the sub-agent was to pay Rs. 1,000 as deposit to be retained by the insolvent firm who were to pay interest on it. The respondent paid the thousand rupees before the agreement was executed, and in fact the agreement never was executed. The deposit of Rs. 1,000 was paid on June 25, 1930, and on April 24, 1931, the White Kerosene & Mineral Oil Company were adjudicated insolvents. In the meantime the respondent had started a suit in a Court at Karachi for the purpose of recovering his deposit, and on May 6, 1931, i.e., after the date of the insolvency, he recovered a judgment for Rs. 1,000, the amount of the deposit, with interest and costs. The question which arises in the insolvency is, whether the respondent is entitled to recover the thousand rupees as moneys held by the insolvents at the time of the insolvency on trust for him, or whether he has merely a right to prove in the insolvency for the amount of his debt.

(3.) The Official Assignee held that the respondent was only entitled to prove for the amount. The learned Insolvency Judge reversed that decision, as he was of opinion that the respondent was entitled to recover the moneys specifically, and from that decision this appeal is brought.