Holding

Pending appeals are to be decided as if the 1947 Act had not been passed, because the proviso to Section 50 (with its separate paragraph) expressly excludes execution proceedings and appeals arising from pre‑Act decrees.

Summary

The respondents leased a plot to the appellant for a flour mill and, after the lease expired, obtained a decree for possession when the appellant failed to vacate. While the appellant's appeal against the decree was pending, the Gujarat government notified that Part II of the Bombay Rents, Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act, 1947 would apply to the village where the property lay. The appellant claimed that the Act, particularly Section 12(1), protected him from eviction and that the proviso to Section 50 did not apply to pending appeals. The lower courts held that the proviso to Section 50 expressly excludes execution proceedings and appeals arising from decrees passed before the Act’s commencement, so the appeal must be decided as if the Act had not been enacted. The Supreme Court affirmed this view, interpreting the proviso (as amended by the 1949 Act) as a special savings clause that makes pending appeals subject to the law in force at the time of the decree. Consequently, the appellant was not entitled to the Act’s protection and the appeal was dismissed.

Issues considered

Whether a pending appeal arising from a decree passed before the Bombay Rents, Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act, 1947 came into force is governed by Part II of that Act when Part II is later made applicable to the area.
Whether the proviso to Section 50 of the 1947 Act, as amended, excludes such pending appeals from its retrospective operation.

Legislation cited

Subjects

leaseevictionpending appealretrospective operationprospective operationprovisoSection 50Section 12statutory interpretationsavings clause

Judgment

lOSl

A
MOTIRAM GHELABHAI <DEAD) THROUGH
L. R. MANIRAM MOTIRAM

: v.
JAGAN NAGAR (DEAD) THROUGH LRs AND OTHERS. B

February 28, 1985

[V. D. TULZAPURKAR AND V. KHALID, JJ.]

Bombay Rents, Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act, 1947, c
Section 50 Suit for possession under Transfer of Property Act-Decreed for
possession-Appeal filed and pending-Part II of the Act made applicable to
area where suit premises situated-Appellant whether entitled to protection of
1947 Act-Effect of proviso para 2 to ~ectfon 50 explained.

The respondents-plaintiffs gave a lease of an open plot to the appel·
!ant-defendant for a period of 10 years for tbe purposCJ of running a flour D
mill after making necessary construction thereon at a yearly rent. In the
lease-deed there was a clause for the renewal of the term, and also that if
• it was not renewed, the lessors were given the right to recover vacant
possession on removal of construction at tbe expiry of the initial term.
There was llO renewal of the term on the expiry of 10 years lease period
and the appellaot.defeodaot was permitted to bold-over. Later by a notice
under s. 106 of the Transfer of Property Act the respondent called upon E
the appellant-defendant to vacate and band-over vacant possession As the
notice was not complied with a suit in ejectment was filed against the
appellant-defendant

The trial court negatived all the defeocee that were raised by the
appellant-defendant and decreed the suit for ejectmeot in favour of the
respondents-plain tiff's. F

The appellant-defendant challenged the decres by an appeal to the
District Court and wbile the appeal was pending the State by a Notification
dated 26th March, 1980 applied Part II of the Bombay Rents, Hotel and
Lodging House Rates Control Act, 1947 to the village where the suit
premises were situJted. The appellant-defendant with the permission of G
the court raised the contention in the appeal tbat he was enlitled to tho
protect ion of Part II of the Act and since none of the grounds on which
eviction could have been made under Part II had been made out by the
respondents-plaintiffs they were not entitled to recover possession. This
contention was refuted on behalf of the respondents-plaintiffs on the ground
that in view of the proviso to s. 50 of the Act and particularly the latter
port thereof Part II of the Act bad no retrospective operation so far as H
1052 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1985] 2 s.c.R

A pending appeals were concerned and such appeals had to be disposed of as
if Part 11 of the Act \Vas not arplicable. The Assbtant Judge took the
view that the proviso to s. 50 read with the latter part thereof expressly
enacted that pending appeals arising out of decrees or orders passed before
the coming into operation of the Act had to be dispossed of as if the Act
had not been passed and therefore the appellant.defendant was not entitled
to any protection as claimed by him and the respondents-plaintiffs were
B entitled to the decree for possession and dismissed the appeal.
·.
The second appeal of the appellant-defendant to the High Court was _.
summarily dismissed.

In the appeal to this Court on the question: whether a pending appeal
c would be governed by the Bombay Rents, Hotel Rates and LCldgiog House
Rates (Control) Act, 194 7 upon the Part II of the Act being made appli-
cable io the area in which the suit premises were situated during its
pondency.

Di1missiog the Appeal,

D HELD : 1. Having regard to the two decisions in Chandrasfngh
Manibhai and others v. Surjit Lal Ladhamal Chhaabda and others, [ 1951] 2
SCR 221 and Shah Bhojraj Kuverji' Oil Mills and Ginning Factory v. Subhash
Chandra Yogro} Sinha, [1962] 2 SCR 159 it is ciear that sub-secs. (2) and
(3) of s. 12 are prospective but sub-sec. (1) thereof is retrospective io
operation. [IOS6B]
•
2. By the Bombay Act 3 of 1949 three changes wero made by the
E
legislature, (i) it deleted the words "other than execution proceedings and
appeals" appearing in brackets from the proviso and inserted a new para-
graph at the end of that proviso dealing separately with execution ptocee-
diogs and appeals, (ii) it insertrd the words "or shall be continued in such
Courts as the case may be" in the proviso, and (iii) it ddeted the word
"thereupon'' from the proviso. The object of amendments made at (ii)
F aod (iii) was to remove the judicial confusion caused by Courts takin~
conflicting views on the question whether the Act (1947 Act) applied only
to transferred cases and not others. By the amendment made at 'i) ·.vhat
war there in the body of the proviso was relegated to a new so;:parate
paragraph and no change was effected except that the effect_ of the wide
expression "all suits and proceedings" was re-emph sised and further
clarified by using the words "execution proceedings and appeals arising out
orders, passed before tbC coming into operation of thi'i Act" in the
new paragraph. [1060G-H; I061B·C]
G
3. (i) The substantive part of s. 50, the proviso thereto and the new
paragraph added at the end of the proviso has to be read as a whole to
know tho true nature and scopo of the proviso. [1059B]

{ii) Under the substantive part of s. SO on the coming into force of
H the Act (the 1947 Act) the two earlior enactments Jthe 1939 Act and the
•
MOTi ltAM GHELABHAI v. JAGAN NAGAR 1053

1944 Act) stand repealed. If nothing more was said then s. 7 of the
A
Bombay General Clauses Act, 1904 would have come into play and would
have had the effect of saving the legal proceedings or remedies in respect of
any right, privilege, obligation or liability acquired, accrued or incurred
under the repealed enactments. In other words, all suits and proceedings
including execution proceedings and appeals arising therefrom which
were pending on the relevant date and which were governed by the
provisions of the repealed Acts would have been saved and the rights and
B
•'
obligations of the parties thereto would have been worked out under the
relevant provisions of the repealed Acts. But the proviso which provides
for special savings clearly indicates that pending suits and original procee-
dings in which decrees and orders have not been passed alone should be
governed by the provisions of the Act and not execution proceedings and
appeals arising out of such decrees and orders passed before the comming
into operation of the Act. [1061E.G; 1062A·B) '
c
(iii) The proviso was and has been e11acted to provide for special
savings which suggests that it has not been introduced merely with a view to
qualify or create exceptions to what is contained in the substantive part
of s. 50. Secondly, it docs appear that the Legislature while framing the
Act (the 194 7 Act) was enacting certain provisions for thri benefit of tenants
D
which conferred larger benefits on them than were in fact conferred by the
earlier enactments which were repealed, this is clear if regard be had to
the wider dofinition of the expression rtenilnt' adopted ins. 5 (II) and there~
fore, the Legislature thought it advisable that in regard to pending suits
and original proceedings of the description or categories specified therein, in
which the decrees and orders were not passed the provisions of the Act
should be m1de applicable. It is with this in!ention that the proviso to
s. 50 bas been enacted in the mJnner it has been done. [1062C-E] E
(iv) While extending the larger benefits of the 1947 Act to tenants the
Legi5Ja1ure has used a very wide expression, namely, "all suits and pro~
ceedings between a landlord and tenantn so as to include within that
category suits and proceedings filed under the repealed Acts as also under
the general law or Transfer of Property Act. [1062F]
F
(v) The proviso read with the separate paragraph added thereto will
have to be regarded as an independent provision enacting a substantive law
of its own by way of providing for •pecial savings. [1062G]

Shankarlat Ramrotan v. Pandharinath Vishnu, 53 Born. L. R. 319,
approved.
G
In the instant case, an appeal (arising out of a decree passed in a
suit filed under the Transfer of Property Act) was pending when Part II of
,> the Act was made applicable to village Kalwada, (where the suit property
was situated) would be directly covered by the proviso read with the
separate paragraph added thereto and the appeal was liable to be decided
and disposed of as if the 1947 Act bad not been passed, that is it had to
H
1054 SUPl!.EME COURT REPORTS [1985] 2 s.c.a.

A be disposed of in accordance with the law that was then applicable to it.
The Assistant Judge as well as the High Court were therefore right in
coming to the conclusion tbat the appellant-def!.!nJant was not entitled to
any P'Otcction of the 1947 Act as claimed by him. [1063B·D]

CIVIL APPELLATE JUR!SDICIION : Civil Appeal No. 239 of
1985.
B
S.H. Sheth for the Appellant.

P.H Parekh, and Miss lndu Malhotra for the Respondents

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
c
TULZAPURKAR, J. The short question raised in this appeal is
whether a pending appeal would be governed by the Bombay Rents,
Hotel and Lodging House R1tes Control Act, 1947 (for short the
Act) upon the Part II of the Act being made applicable to the area )

in which the suit premises were situate during its pendency ?
D
The material facts giving rise to the question are these : By a
registered lease dated 3.6 1957 (Exb. 75) the respondents-plaintiffs
gave a lease of an open plot admeasuring about 7,500 sq. ft. forming
part ofa non-agricultural land bearing Survey No. 70/4/1 situated
in village Kalwada in Valsad District, Gujarat ~tale to the appellant-
E
defendant for a period of IO years for the purpose of running a
flour mill after making necessary construction thereon at an ye1fly
rent of Rs. IOI/-. There was a clause for the renewal of the term
but if it was not renewed the lessors were given the right to recover
vacant possession on removal of construction at the expiry of the
F initial term. Admittedly, there was no renewal of the term and
therefore on the expiry of IO years the lessors became entitled to
recover vacant possession on 3.6.1967 but the appellant-defendant
was permitted to hold over. By a notice under s. 106 of the Trans-
fer of Property Act issued on 2.12.1970 the respondents-plaintiffs
called upon the appellant-defendant to vacate and hand over vacant
possession of the suit plot after midnight of 2.6.1971 that is to say
G on 3.6.1971 but as the notice was not complied with a suit in eject-
ment was filed against th'; appellant-defendant on 12.7.1972. Since
the suit premises were not governed by any rent legislation eviction
on the ground of determination of tenancy under Transfer of
Property Act was available to the respondents-plaintiffs. The trial
court negatived all the defences that were raised by the defendant-
H
MOTi RAM GHELABHAI v. JAGAN NAGAR (Tulzapurkar, J.) 1055

appellant and decreed the suit for ejectment in favour of the respon- A
dents-plaintiffs on 28.2.1977. On 20.61977 the appellant-defendant
challenged the decree by filing an appeal to the District Court,
Navsari being Civil Appeal No. 60 of 1977.

While aforesaid appeal was pending in the District Court
the State of Gujarat by its Notification dated 26th March, B
1980 applied Part JI of the Act to village Kalwada where
the suit premises were situated. Thereupon the defendant-
appellant with the permission of the court raised the conten-
tion that he was entitled to the protection of Part 11 of the
Act and since none of the grounds on which eviction could be had
by the landlord under Part II had been made out by the respon- c
dents-plaintiffs they were not entitled to recover possession of the
suit plot by virtue of the decree passed by the trial court. That
contention was refuted on behalf of the respondents-plaintiffs on
the ground that in view of the proviso to s. 50 of the Act and parti-
cularly the latter part thereof Part I [ of the Act had no retrospective
operation so far as pending appeals were concerned and such appeals D
had to be disposed of as if Part II of the Act was not applicable.
The learned Assistant Judge who heard the appeal took the view
that the proviso to s. 50 read with the latter part tliereof expressly
enacted that pending appeals arising out of decrees or orders passed
before the coming into operation of the Act had to be disposed of E
as if the Act had not been pa'8eG and therefore the appellant.defen-
dant was not entitled to any protection as claimed by him and the
respondents-plaintiffs were entitled to the decree for possession; he
therefore dismissed the appeal. The High Court confirmed the
view taken by the learned Assistant Judge by dismissing the appe-
llant-defendant's second appeal summarily. The appellant-defendant F
has challenged before us the aforesaid view taken by the courts below
in this appeal.

In support of the plea that his client's appeal pending in the
District Court was governed by Part JI of the Act no sooner that
Part was made applicable to Village Kalwada, Counsel for the defen.
dant-appellant raised two contentions. In the first place he urged G
that a section could be prospective in one part and retros-
pective in another and that it has been so held in regard
J to s. J2 occurring in Part II of the Act by this Court; he
pointed out that in Chandrasingh Manibhai and others v. Surjit Lal
Ladhamal Chhabda and others(') this Court has taken the view that

(1) [1951) 2 S.C.R. 221.
H
1056 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1985] 2 S.C.R

A. sub-secs. (2) and (3) of sec. 12 are, having regard to the language
employed therein prospective in operation and therefore would apply
to suits filed after the Act has come into force while in Shah Bhojraj
Ku1erji Oil Mills and Ginning Factory v. Subbash Chandra Yogrqi
Sinha(') it has been held that sub-sec. (I) of sec. 12, by reason of the
words used therein, is retrospective in operation and covered even
B suits pending on the date when the Act is brought into force or is
made applicable to an area and all such pending suits would have
to be decided as if the protection afforded by sub-sec. (I) is availa·
ble to the tenants who are parties to such suits; he urged that such
protection against eviction under sec. 12 (I) of the Act would be
available to the tenant independently of sec. 50 of the Act. Further
c according to the learned Counsel since an appeal is a continuation
of a suit the protection of sub·sec. (l) would be available to the
tenant in the pending appeal He therefore, urged that since Civil
Appeal No. 60 of 1977 was nothing but a continuation of the suit
which was pending at the time when sec. 12 was made applicable to
Village Kalwada the defendant-appellant was entitled to the protec-
D tion of sec. 12(1) of the Act and the trial court's decree for eviction
obtained by the respondents-plaintiffs was of no avail to them.
Secondly, he contended that sec. 50 and the proviso thereto did
not apply to the present case at all; according to him that the proviso
is not an independent provision but is linked with the substantive
enactment contained in sec. 50 which deals with the repeal of two
E earlier enactments, namely, Bombay Rent Restriction Act, 1939 and
the Bombay Rents, Hotel Rates and Lodging House Rates (Control)
Act, 1944 and since the present suit was one under the Transfer of
Property Act and was not under either of the two repealed Acts
there would be no question of applying the proviso to such a suit
or to any appeal arising out of a decree in such suit. According to
F him such suits and appeals arising from decrees in such suits would
be governed by sec 12(1) of the Act which has retrospective opera-
tion, and since protection was available to his client in the pending
appeal the decree for ejectment ought to have been set aside by the
lower courts.

G The question thus rai11ed requires proper construction being
placed on the two relevant and connected provisions of the Act,
namely s. 12(1) ands. 50. These provisions run thus :

(I) [t 962] 2 s.c.a. 1 S9.

"
r ..
MOTi RAM GHELABHAI v. JAGAN NAGAR (Tulzapurkar, J.) 1057

12. (1)-No ejectment ordinarily to be made if tenant A
pays or is ready and willing to pay standard permitted
increases. A landlord shall not be entitled to the recovery
of possession of any premises so long as the tenant pays,
or is ready and willing to pay, the amount of the standard
rent and permitted increases, if any and observes and
performs the other conditions of the tenancy, in so far as B
they aro consistent with the provisions of this Act.

50. Repeal. The Bombay Rent Restriction Act, 1939,
and the Bombay Rents, Hotel Rates and Lodging House
Rates (Control) Act, 1944, are hereby repealed;
c
Provided that all suits and proceedings between a
landlord and a tenant relating to the recovery or fixing of
rent or poss,~sion of any premises to which the provisions of
Part II apply and all suits and proceedings by a manager
of a hotel or an owner of a lodging house against a lodger
for the recovery of charges for, or possession of, the
accommod1tion provided in a hotel or lodging house D
situate in an area to which Part III applies, which are
pending in any Court, shall be tran;ferred to and continued
before the Courts which would have jurisdiction to try
such suits or proceedings under this Act or shall be conti-
nued in such Courts, as the case may be, and all the provi-
sions of this Act and the rules made thereunder shall apply
to all such suits and proceedings.
E

Nothing in this proviso shall apply to execution procee-
dings and appeals arising out of decrees or orden, passed
before the coming into operation of this Act; and such
execution proceedings and appeals shall be decided and
F
disposed of as if this Act had not been passed.

So far as s. 12 of the Act is concerned, having regard to the
two decisions mentioned earlier it is clear that this Court has ruled
that sub-secs. (2) and (31 of s 12 are prospective but sub·sec. (I)
thereof is retrospective in operation and in that behalf the Court in G
Shah Bhojraj's case (supral has relied upon the difference in the
language employed in sub·secs. (2) and (3) on the one hand and
sub-sec. m on the other. Since sub-sec. (2) commences with the
words, "no suit for recovery of possession shall be instituted ........ "
and since sub-sec. (3) as it then stood commenced with the words
"no decree for eviction shall be passed in any such suit ......... " the
..
1058 SUPREME COURT REPORT8 [1985] 2 S.C.R.

A Court took the view that such language plainly indicated that these
provhions We're intended to operate prosoectivcly, that is to say
would apnly to suits imtituted after the coming into force of the
Act; but so far as sub·sec. (l) is concerned the court pointed out
that the point of time when sub-sec. ( l) operates is when the decree
for recovery of poosess1011 has to be passed and that the language .,
B of that sub-,ection, which provides that the landlord is not entitled
to recover possession if the tenant pays or shows his willingness to
pay the standard rent and to observe the other conditions of the
tenancy, is such that it applies equally to suits pending when Part
JI comes into force and those to be filed subsequently and is not
limited only to suits filed after the Act comes into force in a parti-
cular area and in fact the Court in that case granted the benefit of
c the protection of sub-sec. (l) of sec. 12 to the tenant who was a
party to a suit which was already pending when Part II of the Act
was made applicable to the area in which the suit premises
were situated. fhe decision in Shah Bhojraj's case therefore is a
clear authority for the proposition that sec. 120) of the Act has
Ntrospective operation and would apply to a suit which is pending
D
when Part II comes into force or is made applicable to a particular
area where the suit premises are situated but it must be observed
that the question whether the protection of sec. 12(1) of the Act
would be available in regard to a pending appeal when Part If is
made applicable to the particular area did not arise for considera-
E tion nor was decided in that case. Counsel for the appellant.
defendant has however, urged that on the well accepted principle
that an appeal is nothing but a continuation of the suit the retros-
pective operation of s 12( l l must be extended to such pending
appeal especially as the language thereof must receive the same
interpretation in regard to a pending appeal. We have no doubt
F that by itself the provision would apply to pending appeals but the
provision has to be considered in the light of the other provision to
be found in s. 50 and the proviso thereto read with the latter part
thereof which expressly deals differently with the aspect of appli-
cability of the Act especially Part II thereof to pe11ding suits and
G original proceedings on the one hand and pending execution procee-
dings and appeals on the other. That is why counsel for the appel-
lant-defendant raised the second contention that s. 50 and the ·-\
proviso thereto read with the latter part thereof did not apply to '
the present case at all and in that behalf urged that the proviso
together with the latter part thereof is not an independent provision
H
MOTi !<AM GHELABllAJ v. !AGAN NAGAR (Tu/zapurkar, J) 1059

but is liuked with the substantive enactment contained in s 50 that A
is to say the proviso ha; been inserted merely with a vitlW to qualify
or create an exception to what is state.1 in the main provision.
The manner in which the two contentions were put forward by
counsel for the appellant-defendant clearly showed that he realised
that unless the present case was taken out of the purview of s. 50
B
and the proviso thereto read with the latter part thereof his client
would not be able to claim the benefit of the protection of s. 12(ll
of the Act. Therefore, the two contentions being inter-dependent
it will be desirable to deal with the second contention first. Of
course, we shall also deal with his contention that the defendant.
appellant would be entitled to the pr. >tection of s. 12(1) indepen-
dently of and irrespective of whether h:s client's case is .covered by
c
s. 50 and tbe proviso thereto read with the latter part thereof
or not.

Turning then to the second contention of counsel for the
appellant-defendant it is obvious that the question whether the D
present case falls within or outside the purview of the proviso to
s. 50 depends upon what is true nature and scope of the proviso
introduced at the end of s. 0 ? Is it introduced merely with a view
to qualiry or create exceptions to what is contained in the main
provision of s. 50 or doe' it go beyond that purpose and enact a
substantive law of its own by way of providing for sp,cial savings E
following upon the repeal of t'1e two earlier enactments, the 1939
Act and the 1914 Act ? That a proviso could be of either type
was not disp ,ted before us by counsel f,ir the app3llant-defendant.
In fact in S1.1!1 B'wjraj'.' c1se (supra) this Court after referring to
two English decisions and a passage in Craies on Statute Law (5th
edition) at page 166 of the Report has observed thus: F

"The law with regard to provisos is well-settled and
well-understood As a general rule, a proviso is added to
an enactment to qualify or create an exception to what is
in the enactment and ordinarily a provirn is not interpreted
as stating a gc11cral rule But provisos are often added not
as exceptions or qualifications to the main enactment but as G
savings clauses, in which cases they will not be considered

' as controlled by the section."

The question is in which category the instant proviso together
with latter part thereof fall . It may be stated that this very ques-
H
1060 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1985] 2 SC.R.

A tion was hotly debated before the Court in. that case but was not
decided and kept open because of the view taken by the Court on
the contention pertaining to proper interpretation of s. I 2(1) of the
Act and since the Court held that s. 12(1) is retrospective in opera-
tion and covers suits pending on the date when Part II was applied
to the particuhr area it granted relief to tho tenant-appellant against
B eviction. We might observe, however, that the same result would
have obtained even if the case were considered under the proviso to
s 50 because under it suits and proceedings pending at the date
when Part II is made applicablo are required to be decided by apply-
ing the 1947 Act to them. Since the que•tion raised before us
c relates to the applicability of the 1947 Act to a pending appeal we
shall have to decide the question pertaining to the true nature and
scope of the proviso to sec. 50 in this case.
Before we deal with that question we might indicate that the
said proviso to s. 50 as it originally stood has undergone certain
amendments effected by Bombay Act 3 of 1949. The proviso as
D it originally stood ran thus (omitting unnecessary parts) :

"Provided that all suits and proceedings (other than
execution proceedings and appeals' between a landlord and
a tenant relating to recovery or thing of rent or possession
of any premises to which the provisions of part II apply
E .............. which are pending in any Court, shall be trans·
ferred to and continued before the Courts whi :h would have
jurisdiction to try such suits or procoedings under this Act;
and thereupon all the preprovisions of this Act and the
Rules made thereunder shall apply to all such suits and
proceedings."
F
By the Bombay Act 3 of 1949 three changes were made by
the legislature, (i) it deleted the words "other than execution procee-
dings and appeals" appearing in brackets from the proviso and
inserted a new paragraph at the end of that proviso dealing separa-
tely with execution proceedings and appeals, (ii) it inserted the
words "or shall be continued in such Courts as the case may be" in
G the proviso and (iii) it deleted the word "there.~pon" :.~om the
proviso. The object of amendments made at (11) and (ml was to
remove the judicial confusion caused by Courts taking conflicting
views on the question whether the Act (l947 Act) applied only to
•ransferred cases and not others. Previously the proviso stated
that all suits and proceedings of a certain category mentioned there.
H
MOTi RAM GHELABHAI v. JAGAN NAGAI\ (Tulzapurkar, J.) 1061
l
1 in "shall be transferred to and continued" before the Courts which
A
would have jurisdiction to try them under the Act and "thereupon"
the provisions of the Act shall apply to them and therefore some
Courts took the view that the provisions of the Act (1947 Act) will
apply only to suits and proceedings which were so transferred and
continued and others held to the contrary. This conflict was
set at rest by these amendments. By the amendment made B
at (i) what was there in the body of the proviso was relegaced
to a new separate paragraph and no change was effected except that
the effect of the wide expression "all suits· and proceedings" was
re-emphasised and further clarified by using the words "execution
proceedings and appeals arising out of decrees and orders, passed
before the coming into operation of this Act" in the new para-
graph. c
Bearing in mind the aforesaid legislative amendments we shall
proceed to consider the question as to what is the true nature and
scope of the proviso. For that purpose it will be necessary to read
as a whole the entire provision, namely, the substantive part of s. 50, D
the proviso thereto and the new paragraph addod at the end of the
proviso. So read, two aspects stand out very clearly. In the first
place, it is clear that under the substantive part of s. 50 on the
coming into force of the Act (the 1947 Act) the two earlier enact-
ments (1939 Act and the 1944 Act) stand repealed. If nothing
more was said then s. 7 of the Bombay General Clauses Act, 1904
would have come into play and would have had the effect of saving
the legal proceedings or remedies in respect of any right, privilege,
obligation or liability acquired, accrued or incurred under the
repealed enactments. In other words, all suits and proceedings
including execution proceedings and appeals arising there-
from which were pending on the relevant date and which were F
governed by the provisions of these respective repealed Acts would
have been saved and the rights and obligations of the parties thereto
wonld have been worked out under the relevant provisions of the
repealed Acts. But here a clear mtention to deviate from the nor-
mal rule which applies to the repeal of enactments is clearly evinced
G
by the Legislature by the manner in which the proviso was enacted
initially or as it now stands after the amendments. Either under
the proviso as it originally stood or under the new separate para-
graph enacted by way of an amendment the legislative intent was
and is quite clear that only suits and original proceedings between
a land lord and a tenant (of the description or categories specified
1062 SUPRBMIJ COURT REORTS [1985) 2 S.C.R.
A therein) which were pending on the relevant date are required to be
decided and disposed of by applying the provisions of the 1947 Act
while execution proceedings ~nd appeals arising out of decrees
or orders passed before the coming into operation of the Act are
denied the benefits of the provisions of the Act and have been
directed to be decided and disposed of as if this Act h~d not been
B
passed, that is to say, such execution proceedings and appeals would
he continued to be governed by and shall be disposed of in accor-
dance with the law that was then applicable to them. In other
words, it is clear that the proviso was and has been enacted to
provide for special savings which suggests that it has not been intro-
c duced merely with a view to qualify or create exceptions to what is
contained in the substantive part of s. 50. Secondly, it does appear
that the Legislature while framing the Act (the 1947 Act) was enact-
ing certain provisions for the benefit of tenants which conferred
larger benefits on them than were in fact conferred by the earlier
enactments which were repealed, (and this would be clear if regard
D be had to the wider definition of the expression 'tenant' adopted in
s. 5(1 !) of the Act) and therefore, the legislature thought it advisable
that in regard to pending suits and original proceedings also (of
co ,rse of the description or categories specified therein) in which
the decrees and orders were not passed to provisions of the Act
should be made applicable. It is with this intention that the proviso
E to s. 50 ha$ been enacted in the manner it bas been done. What is
more, while so extending the larger benefits of the Act (the 1947
Act) to tenants the Legislature b'8 used a very wide expression,
namely, "all suits and proceedings between a landlord and a tenant"
so as to include within that category suits and proceedings filed
under the repealed Acts as also under the general law or Transfer
F
of Property Act. Deliberate use of such wide expression clearly
shows that the benefit of the Act was intended to be given to all
tenants who were parties to all suits and proceedings filed either
under the repealed Acts or under the general law or Transfer of
Property Act and were pending at the relevant date. It is therefore,
G clear that the proviso read w'th the separate paragraph added
thereto will have to be regarded as an independent provision enact-
ing a substantive (aw of its own by way of providing for special
savings and Counsel's contention that the same has been added
merely with a view ro qualify or to create an exception to what
is contained in the main provision of s. 50 has to be rejected.
We might rerer to a Bombay High Court decision in Shankarlal

H
MOTi RAM GHELABHAI v. JAGAN NAGAR (Tulzapurkar, J.) 1063

Ramratan v. Pandharinath Vishnu( 1J where a similar view of the A
proviso to s. So of the Act has been taken and we approve the
same.

Having regard to the aforesaid conclusion which we have
reached on the true nature and scope of the proviso to s. SO of the,
Act it would be clear that the present case, in which an appeal 8
(arising out of a decree passed in a suit filed under the Transfer
of Property Act) was pending when Part II of the Act was made
applicable to village Kalwada, would be directly covered by the
proviso read with the separate paragraph added thereto and the
appeal was liable to be decided and disposed of as if the J 94 7
Act had not been passed, that is to say, had to be disposed of in
accordance with the }aw that was then applicable to it. In this
c
view of the matter, we are of the opinion that the learned Assis-
tant Judge as well as the High Court were right in coming to the
conclusion that the appellant-plaintiff was not entitled to any
protection of the 1947 Act as claimed by him.
D
Counsel for the appellant,defendant however, faintly urged
before us that his client would be entitled to the protection of
s. 12( I) of the Act, (which has been held to be retrospective in
operation) independently of and irrespective of whether his case
r was covered by the proviso to s. 50 read with the latter part
thereof or not. It is impossible to accept this .contention for the
simple reason that s. 12( I) of the Act would unquestionably be E
a general provision whereas the proviso to s. SO read with the
new paragraph added thereto, which has now been held to be
an independent provision enacting substantive law in itself and
which expressly deals with pending matters (suits and other
.k proceedings in contradistinction with execution proceedings
and appeals) would be a special provision contained in the F
Act and obviously under the uormal rule of interpretation
the special provision must prevail over the general and therefore
if a case is covered by the special provision the general pro\ision
will not be attracted to it. The contention has therefore to be
rejected.
G
) Before parting with the case we would like to point out
that Chandrasingh Manibhai's case (supra) was also a case deal mg

(I) 53 Born. L.R. 319
ff
1064 SUPl!.BMll COURT 11.BPOl!.TS (l!l85] 2 s.c.a.

A with an appeal (arising out of a decree passed on a date prior to
the coming into force of the 194 7 Act in a suit filed under the
Transfer of Property Act) which was pending at the relevant date
and the question was 'l\hether on the principle that the appeal
was in the nature of a rehearing of the suit the same should be
decided in accordance with the provisions of the 194 7 Act which
B
had come into force during its pendency and this Court took the
view that having regard to the proviso to s. 50 as it originally
stood tlie Act was given retrospective operation only to a limited
extent and execntion proceedings and appeals were excluded from
this effect and were to be governed by the law in force at the
time when the decrees were passed and therefore, the tenant was
c not entitled to the protection of the 194 7 Act and was liable to
be evicted.

Really speaking this decision had concluded the point
raised before us in the present appeal. But since in Shah Bhojraj's
D case (supra) a distinction Was made between sub-sec. (1) of s. 12
on the one hand and sub secs. (2) and (3) on the other and it
was held that the former provision was retrospective in operation
ind the latter prospective, Counsel for the appellant-defendant
1ade valiant attempt to bring his client's case within the purview
of s. J 2( I) by putting forward the plausible contention that his
E case was not covered by the proviso to S· 50 read with the
separate paragraph added thereto at all on the ground that the
said proviso together with the new separate paragraph added
thereto wzs not an independent provision enacting any substan-
tive iaw therein but was linked with the main provision contained
in s. 50 and had been introduced merely with a view to qualify
F or create an exception to what is contained in the main provision
but that attempt has failed in view of our conclusion on the true
nature and scope of the said proviso read with the new separate
paragraph added to it.

In the result, the appeal fails and is dismissed but in the
G circumstances there will be no order as to costs.

N.V.K. Appeal dismissed.