Supreme Court of India
PANCHUGOPAL BARUA AND ORS.versusUMESH CHANDRA GOSWAMI AND ORS.
- Citation
- 1997 INSC 138
- Decided
- 12 February 1997
- Disposal
- Appeal(s) allowed
- Bench
- A S ANAND
Holding
A second appeal is maintainable only if it involves a substantial question of law, which was absent here, and Section 60(b) of the Easements Act does not apply to Assam; therefore the licence was revocable and the High Court’s order was set aside.
Summary
The plaintiff allowed the defendant to use a plot of land in Assam for two years (June 1963‑June 1965) to raise a temporary structure, with the understanding that the structure would be removed and possession returned after the period. The defendant failed to vacate and also claimed he was a prospective purchaser under an oral agreement of sale. The trial court and the first appellate court decreed possession to the plaintiff. The defendant filed two second appeals before the Assam High Court; the High Court, relying on a 1975 Advocate Commissioner’s report, held that the structure was permanent, invoked Section 60(b) of the Indian Easements Act, 1882 (despite the Act not applying to Assam) and declared the licence irrevocable on principles of justice, equity and good conscience, thus refusing eviction. The Supreme Court held that the second appeal was not maintainable because it did not raise a substantial question of law as required by the 1976 amendment to Section 100 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and that Section 60(b) of the Easements Act could not be applied to Assam. Moreover, even if equity were invoked, the defendant did not come with clean hands. Consequently, the High Court’s order was set aside and the trial court decree restored.
Issues considered
- The applicability of Section 100 of the Code of Civil Procedure (as amended 1976) to a second appeal lacking a substantial question of law.
- Whether Section 60(b) of the Indian Easements Act, 1882 applies to the State of Assam.
- Whether a licence becomes irrevocable under Section 60(b) when the work is of permanent character and the statutory conditions are satisfied.
- Whether principles of justice, equity and good conscience can be invoked to protect a licence when the statute does not apply and the respondent lacks clean hands.
Legislation cited
- Code of Civil Procedure, 1908s. 100
- Indian Easements Act, 1882s. 60(b)
Subjects
second appealsubstantial question of lawSection 100 CPCIndian Easements ActSection 60(b)licence irrevocabilityjurisdictionequityclean handsAssampermissive usetemporary structure
Judgment
A PANCHUGOPAL BARUA AND ORS.
v.
UMESH CHANDRA GOSWAMI AND ORS.
.
FEBRUARY 12, 1997
'B [DR. A.S. ANAND AND S.B. MAJMUDAR, JJ.)
Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 : Section JOO (as amended in 1976).
"Exercise of jurisdiction-In second appeal by High Court-Substantial
C question of law-Essential prerequisite for-Suit filed by owner for khas
possession of land on ground that he had allowed the licensee to make
pennissive use of the land for two years and raise. temp~rary structure thereon
with the understanding that he would remove the structure and deliver khas
possession of the land after two years which he failed to do-Licensee pleaded
that he occupied land not as a pemiissive user but as 'prospective purchaser'
D under an oral agreement of sale-Trial Court and First Appellate Court
concu"ently decided on questions offact Neither any pure question of law
nor any mixed of law and fact raised before those courts-However, in second
appeal High Court on the basis of a report of AdvocilTh Commissioner held
that the structure raised by the licensee being of a pennane11t nature, the
E licence became i"evocable under S. 60(b) of Easements Act and, there/ore,
he could not be evicted-Held : High Court could not decide second appeal
on the basis of new point neither specifically set out in memorandum of
appeal and without f onnulati11g any "substantive question of law''-Hence,
High Court was not justified in entertaining the new point regarding ap-
plicability of S. 60(b) of Easements Act in second appeal.
F
Indian Easements Act, 1882 : Section 60(b ).
Licensee of land in State of Assam-Principles of "justice, equity and
good co11scie11ce''-Applicability of-Conditions f 01~Lice11ce granted in 1963
for two years with pennission to raise temporary structure thereon with the
G understanding that licensee would remove the structure · and deliver khas
possession of land after two yeal"-Licensee failed to do so-Suit filed/or khas
possession and decreed by Trial Court and First appellate Court-However,
in second appeal High Court on the basis of report of Advocate Commis-
sioner submitted in 1975, took the view that licensee had raised structure of
H a pennanent nature on land and even though Easements Act was not
12
-{
PANCHUGOPALBARUAv. U.C.GOSWAMI
applicable in State ofAssam, S. 60(b) thereof was applicable on the principles A
of ''justice, equity and good co11scie11ce" and as such the licence had bec01:ne
irrevocable-Held : High Court erred in relying upon repoit of Advocate
Commissioner Submitted in 1975 when question of raising the sllUcture
pertained to the period of licence i.e. from 1963 to 1965-High Court's view
of applicability of S. 60(b) was also erroneous since it had f ou11d tltat the fAct B
itself did not apply to State of Assam-Grant of relief 011 the principlef of
"justice, equity and ·good conscience" was not pennissible wlte11 the licelzsee
1
himself had not come to the cozirt with clean hands. ·
Statute Law :
Territorial operation-Central Act not applicable in a State-Held :
c
I
Such Act could not be applied by High Court through its judicial power-Judi-
cial Activism. '
The appellant allowed the respondent to make permissive use of a
plot of land for a period of two years commencing from 1.6.1963 and to D
raise a temporary structure thereon for the purpose of his residence. There
was an understanding between the appellant and the respondent that the
respondent would remove the structure and deliver khas possession of the
suit land after the expiry of the period of two years. However, the respon-
dent failed to handover the vacant possession of the suit land to the E
appellant. Thereupon the appellant filed a suit for a dec.ree of khas
possession and compensation.
The respondent resisted the suit on the grounds that he did not
occupy the suit land as a permissive user under the appellant and that the
respondent had occupied the suit land under Ii contract of purchase. While F
this suit was pending the defendant-respondent also filed a suit against
the appellant for a decree of specific performance of an oral agreement to
sell the suit land on the ground that after being handed over the possession
of the suit land, as the 'prospective purchaser', the respondent had con-
structed a house over it. The Trial Court and the First Appellate Court
decreed the suit filed by ·the appellant and dismissed the suit filed by the G
respondent.
The respondent thereupon preferred two second appeals .before the
High Court. The High Court upheld the concurrent findings of the two
courts to the effect that the story put forward by the respondent regarding H
;
14 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997J 2 S.C.R.
A the existence of an oral agreement to sell had no truth in it. The High Court
found that the appellant had given the respondent possession of the suit
land as a licensee. But the High· Court, on the basis of the report of
Advocate Commissioner took the view that the respondent had raised a
structure of a permanent nature on the suit land, that even though the
B Indian Easements Act, 1882 did not apply to the State of Assam gave the
benefit_ of Section 60(b) thereof and held the licence to be irrevocable on
the principles of "justice, equity and good conscience" and, therefore, the
respondent could not be evicted from the suit land. The plea raised by the
appellant that the High Court could not entertain the new point regarding
applicability· of Section 60(b) of Easements Act in second appeal was
C rejected. Hence this appeal.
On behalf of the appellant it was contended that the second appeal
was not maintainable since no substantial question of law was formulated
as laid down in Section 100 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (as
amended in 1976); and that no relief could have been granted to the
D respondent on the basis of Section 60(b) of the Easements Act, as that Act
did not apply to the State of Assam.
Allowing the appeal, this Court
E HELD : 1.1. The jurisdiction of the High Court to entertain a second
appeal under Section 100 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 after the 1976
amendment is confined only to such appeals as involve substantial question
of law, specially set out in the memorandum of appeal and formulated by
the High .Court. The proviso to Section 100 C.P.C. (as amended in 1976)
presupposes that the court shall indicate in its order the substantial ques-
F tion of law, which it proposes to decide even if such substantial question of
law was not earlier formulated by it. The existence of a "substantial question
of law" is thus the sine-qua-non for the exercise of the jurisdiction under
the amended provisions of Section 100 C.P.C. (22-C-D]
1.2. Generally speaking, an appellant is not to be allowed to set up
G a new case in second appeal or raise a new issue (otherwise than a
jurisdictional one), not supported by the pleadings or evidence on the
record and unless the appeal involves a substantial question of law, a
second appeal shall not lie to the High Court under the amended
provisions. In the present case, no such question of law was formulated in
H the memorandum of appeal in the High Court and grounds in the
'
I'
I
!
PANCHUGOPALBARUAv. U.C.GOSWAMI 15
...
memorandum of the second appeal on which reliance is placed did not A
formulate any substantial question of law. Both the trial court and the
lower appellate court had decided the cases only on questions of fact, on
the basis of pleadings and the evidence led by the parties before the Trial
Court. No pure question of law or even a mixed question of law and fact
was urged before the Trial Court or the First appellate Court by the B
respondent. The High Court did not formulate any substantial question of
law in the appeal and dealt with the second appeal, not on ~ny substantial
question of law, but treating it as if it was a first appeal, as of right, against
the judgment and decree of the subordinate court. The High Court was,
therefore, not justified in entertaining the second appeal on an altogether
new point, neither pleaded nor canvassed in the subordinate courts and C
that too by overlooking the changes brought about in Section 100 C.P.C.
by the Amendment Act of 1976 without even indicating that a substantial
question of law was required to be resolved in the second appeal. To say
the least, the approach of the High Court was not proper. It is the
obligation of the courts of law to further the clear intendment of the D
legislature and not to frustrate it by ignoring the same. [22-E-H, 23-A-C]
2.1. The plaintitl's case specifically was that he had allowed the
defendant to make pennissive use of the suit land as a licensee and had
permitted the raising of a temporary strncture thereon for a period of two
years beginning on 1.6.1963 and that the defendant acting on the licence E
had raised a temporary strncture on the suit land and contrary to the
understanding had refused to hand back the possession of the suit land
after the expiry of two years. This plea of the plaintiff had to be taken as
a whole and could not be dissected for the purpose of granting relief to the
respondent by accepting a part of it. On the plaintitl's case, taken as a F
whole, the question of irrevocability of the licence could not at all arise
because for granting relief on the principles contained in Section 60(b) of
the India Easements Act, 1882 a licence becomes irrevocable provided the
following three conditions are satisfied :
(1) that the occupier must be a licensee; G
(2) that he should have acted upon the licence;
(3) and executed a work of penna11e11t character and incurred expen-
ses for the execution of the work. [24-D-G] H
16 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1997] 2 S.C.R.
A 2.2. The High Court relied upon the report of the Advocate Commis-
sioner to opine that the structure raised by the defendant on the suit
property was of a pennanent character. In doing so it ignored not only the
other evidence on the record but also that the report of the Advocate
Commissioner was submitted in 1975, while the question of raising con-
..
B struction was to be considered in relation to the period of the licence i.e.
1.6.1963 and l.6.1965. On the strength of the plaintiff-appellant's case, the
High Court fell. in error in holding that the licence could not be revoked
because of the raising of a permanent structure by the licensee, a case
totally inconsistent with the defence raised in the Trial Court and the First
Appellate Court by the respondent. Such a plea ought not to have been
C allowed to be raised at the stage of the second appeal in the High Court
for the first time. [24-H, 25-A-C]
Chevalier!:!. Iyappan & Anr. v. T7ie Dhamtodayam Co., Trichur, AIR
(1966) SC 1017, followed.
D
3.1. Once it was found that the Easements Act had no application to
the State of Assam, the question of "clearing the way for Section 60(b) of
the Act to operate" cannot at all arise. Of Course, the principles of 'justice,
equity and good conscience" on which Section 60(b) of the Easements Act
rests may apply in the facts and circumstances of a given case but that is
E not to say that thought tlie Easements Act does not apply, provisions of
SeCtion 60(b) of the Easements Act still "operate". Since, the legislature did
not intend the Act to apply to the State of Assam, the High Court could
not have defeated that intendment by holding that "the defendant of the
present case was protected by Section 60(b) of the Act. "It is not permis-
F sible to extend the provisions of an Act, made not applicable by the
legislature to a State, by Judicial order as it amounts to enacting legislation
by the High Court, a power not vested in the judiciary. [26-F-H]
3.2. Even otherwise, the grant of relief to the respondent even on the
principles of justice, equity and good conscience" which doctrine appears
G to have been pressed into aid, was on the facts and circumstances of case,
not permissible. A court of equity, it should be remembered, must so act
as to prevent of a legal fraud. It is expected to do justice by promotion of
honesty and good faith, as far as it lies within its power. A party seeking
relief in equity must come to the court with clean hands. In the present
H case, the respondent herein denied that he was licensee of the appellant or
PANCHUGOPALBARUAv. U.C.GOSWAMI[DR.ANAND,J.) 17
had been given permissive use to raise a temporary structure on the suit A
land for a period of two years. He set up a 'title' to the suit land as
a'prospective purchaser' on the basis of an 'oral agreement to sell' in
himself, claiming to have occupied the suit land in his capacity as a
'prospective purchaser'. All the three courts, including the High Court,
found that the plea of the respondent to be 'false' in the suit for specific B
performance filed by the respondent. The S.L.P. against the judgment and.
decree, was also dismissed by this Court. The respondent, therefore,
certainly did not come to the Court with clean hands. Thus, even if it be
assumed for the sake of argument, that the principles of 'justice, equity
and good conscience' underlying the provisions of Section 60(b) of the
Easements Act, could be attracted in a given case in the State of Assam C
where the Easements Act had not been extended, the conduct of the
respondent disentitled him to any relief on the basis of 'justice, equity and
good conscience'. [27-A-F)
fagot Singh v. District Board, AIR (1940) Lah 509, held inapplicable.
D
Mathuri v. Bhola Nath, AIR (1934) All 517, referred to.
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 3631 of
1993.
From the Judgment and Order dated 12.8.88 of the Assam High E
Court in S.A. No. 85 of 1979.
Vijay Hansaria, Sunil K. Jain, Jatinder K. Bhatia, Manish Kumar for
Jain Hansaria & Co. for the Appellants.
P.K. Goswami, Ms. Vijay Lakshmi Menon for the Respondents. F
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
DR. ANAND, J. This appeal by special leave is directed against the
judgment and order of the High Court of Gauhati dated 12.8.88 in Second
Appeal No. 85179 and has arisen in the following circumstances : G
Shri Durga Charan Barua, predecessor in interest of the appellant,
allowed respondent No. 1 Umesh Chandra Goswami, to make permissive
use of a plot of land in Jorahat town for a period of two years commencing
from 1.6.63 and to raise temporary structure thereon for the said period H
18 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997] 2 S.C.R.
A for the purpose of his residence. There was an understanding between
them that the respondent would remove the structure and deliver khas
possession of the suit land after the expiry of the period of two years. On
the failure of the respondent to handover the vacant possession of the suit
land to the predecessor-in-interest of the appellants, a registered notice
B was served on the respondent to deliver the possession by 31st March,
1966. The respondent did not deliver, possession and the predecessor in
interest of the appellant thereupon, in 1966, filed a suit in the Court of
Munsif, Jorahat, for a decree of khas possession and compensation. It was
registered as title suit No. 65/66. After survey commission, it was fund that
C the value of the. suit land exceeded the pecuniary jurisdiction of the
Munsifs court and therefore the suit was brought to the court of Assistant
District Judge, Jorahat and registered there as title suit No. 36/67. The case
set up in the plaint by the plaintiff was that he had allowed the defendant
to make permissive use of the suit land by raising temporary structure
D thereon for a period of two years with effect from 1st of June, 1963 but
inspite of a clear understanding between the plaintiff and the defendant
that the latter would vacate and deliver khas possession of the suit land by
removing his temporary structures from the land at his own cost at the end
of the period of two years, he had failed to hand back the possession of
the suit land. The defendant resisted the suit and in the written statement
E inter-alia pleaded that "the defendant did not occupy any land as a permis-
sive user under the plaintiff ............ the defendant has occupied the land
under the contract of purchase and never gave any understanding to the
plaintiff to remove his structures". While title suit No. 36/67 filed by the
predecessor-in-interest of the appellants was pending, the defendant-
F respondent also filed a suit in the Court of Assistant District Judge,
Jorahat, being title suit No. 23/69 for a decree of specific performance of
an oral agreement to sell the suit land against the predecessor-in-interest
of the appellant. It was pleaded by the defendant (respondent No. l herein)
that he had entered into an oral agreement with Shri Durga Charan Barua
G for sale of the disputed plot of land and had been delivered possession of
the same in pursuance of the aforesaid agreement by him after receiving
Rs. 7860.00 as sale price. That after being handed over the possession of
the suit land, as the prospective purchaser, he had constructed a house
over it and since Shri Durga Charan Barna had failed to execute the sale
H deed, a decree for specific performance of the oral agreement by calling
PANCHUGOPALBARUAv. U.C.GOSWAMI[DR.ANAND,J.) 19
upon Shri Barua to execute the sale deed be passed in his favour. Both the A
suits i.e. Suit No. 36/67 and Suit No. 23/69 were clubbed and tried together.
During the pendency of the suit, Shri Durga Charan Barua died and
his legal representatives were brought on the record. The trial court by a
common judgment and order decreed suit No. 36/67 filed by late Shri B
Durga Charan Barua Directing khas possession to be given to the plaintiff
by the defendant and dismissed suit No. 23/69 filed by respondent No. 1
by returning a finding that there was no evidence to show that respondent
No. 1 had entered into any agreement to purchase the suit land with late
Shri Durga Charan Barua nor was there any evidence to show that he had
paid the sum of Rs. 7860 to Durga Charan Barua. The trial court held that C
the story of an oral agreement to sell the suit land was a concocted one.
Aggrieved by the judgment and decree of the trial court, respondent No.
1 preferred two separate appeals before the District Judge, Jorahat. Vide
judgment dated 21.8.78 the District Judge dismissed both the appeals and
confirmed the judgment and decree passed by the Trial Court in both D
cases. The respondent No. 1 thereupon preferred two second appeals
before the High Court being SA No. 77/79 arising out of suit No. 23/69 and
SA No. 85/78. arising out of judgment and decree in suit No. 36/67. The
High Court vide judgment and order dated 4.8.88 dismissed second appeal
No. 77/79 and upheld the concurrent findings of the two courts to the effect
that the story put forward by respondent No. 1 regarding the existence of E
an oral agreement to sel~ had no truth in it. The plea put forward by
respondent No. 1 of his occupying the suit land pursuant to the oral
agreement to sell was rejected. It was found that respondent No. 1 had
been given possession of the suit land as a licencee by the plaintiff as
alleged in the plaint. The High Court, however, vide judgment dated F
12.8.88 allowed second appeal No. 85/79 arising out of suit No. 36/67 and
by the said judgment granted benefit of the provisions of Section 60(b) of
the Indian Easement Act, 1882 (hereinafter called the "Easement Act')
holding the licence to be irrevocable on the principles of 'justice, equity
and good conscience". The High Court relying on the report of the local
commissioner of 1975 came to the conclusion that the structure raised by G
respondent No. 1 was of a permanent nature and therefore the protection
under Section 60(b) of the Easement Act was available to him and he could
not be evicted from the suit land. The preliminary objection raised by the
appellants, that no plea on the basis of which the benefit of the provisions
of the Easement Act was now being sought for the first time in the second H
20 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1997) 2 S.C.R.
A appeal had been raised in the written statement; that no issue had been
framed and no evidence was led by the parties before the trial court
regarding the availability of the benefit of Section 60(b) of the Act and that
even in the First Appellate Court, no such plea had been raised and,
therefore, the same could not be allowed to be raised for the first time in
B the High Court in the Second Appeal, was rejected and the second appeal, .
was allowed setting aside the concurrent findings of fact.
While the appellant filed SLP against the judgment and order of the
High Court in second appeal No. 85179 (arising out of SLP 2567/89),
respondent No. 1 filed a SLP against the dismissal of the second appeal
C No. 77/79 (arising out of SLP 14313/88). Vide order dated 3.8.93 special
leave was granted in SLP No. 2567/89 but SLP No. 14313/88 filed by the
respondent No. 1 was dismissed.
Mr. H ansaria, learned counsel, appearing for the appellant submitted
D that not only was the second appeal filed by respondent No. 1 not main-
tainable as no substantial question of law was involved in the appeal but
even otherwise no relief could have been granted to respondent No. 1 on
the basis of Section 60(b) of the Easement Act, as that Act does not apply
to the State of .Assam. Learned counsel for the respondent, however,
supported the judgment on the same reasoning as given by the learned
E Single Judge.
Both the trial court and the First Appellate Court have concurrently
found that the plea of respondent No. 1 that he had entered into an oral
agreement to purchase the suit land with late Shri Durga Charan Barua
p and had occupied the same after being put in possession by Shri Barua, as
a prospective purchaser, and had raised Construction thereon as a
prospective purchaser was not borne out from the record and that the story
was false and not based on truth. Both the courts also found, concurrently,
that Shri Barua, the predecessor-in-interest of the appellant had allowed
the respondent to make permissive use of the suit land for a period of two
G years and had permitted him to raise temporary structures on the said plot
of land for the purpose of his residence. Against these concurrent findings
of fact, the learned Single Judge admitted two second appeals and sub-
sequently allowed one by setting aside the concurrent findings of fact and
on the basis of a plea, claiming benefit of Section 60(B) of the Easement
H Act, raised before the High Court for the first time in the second appeal
PANCHUGOPAL BARVAv. U.C. GOSWAMI [DR. ANAND, J.] 21
granted relief to respondent No. 1 and non-suited the plaintiff-appellant. A
We shall deal with that aspect a little later.
It appears to us that the learned Single Judge of the High Court
overlooked the change brought about in Section 100 C.P.C. by the Amend-
ment Act of 1976 which has drastically restricted the scope of second
appeals. Prior to the amendment, a second appeal could lie to the High B
Court on the grounds set out in Clauses (a) to (c) of Section 100(1),
namely:
(a) the decision being contrary'to law or to some usage having the
,..-
force of law; c
(b) the decision haVing failed to determine some material issue of
law or usage having the force of law;
(c) a substantial error or defect in the procedure provided by this
Code or by any other law for the time being in force, which may D
possibly have produced error or defect in the decision of the case
upon the merits.
However, by the amendment of 1976, vital change was introduced by the
legislature in Section 100 C.P.C. The amended Section 100 C.P.C. reads
thus:
E
100. (1) Save as otherwise expressly provided in the body of this
Code or by any other law for the time being in force, an appeal .
shall lie to the High Court from every decree passed in appeal by
any Court subordinate to the High Court, it the High Court is F
satisfied that the case involves a substantial question of law.
(2) An appeal may lie under this section from an appellate decree
passed ex pa1te.
(3) In an appeal under this section, the memorandum of appeal G
shall precisely state the substantial question of law involved in the
~
appeal.
(4) Where the High Court is satisfied that a substantial question
of law is involved in any case, it shall formulate that question. H
22 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997] 2 S.C.R.
A (5) The appeal shall be heard on the question so formulated and
the respondent shall, at the hearing of the appeal, be allowed to
argue that the case does not involve such question : Provided that
nothing in this sub-section shall be deemed to take away or abridge
the power of the Court to hear, for reasons to be recorded, the
appeal on any other substantial question of law, not formulated by
B it, if it is satisfied that the case involves such question.".
A bare look at Section 100 C.P .C. shows that the jurisdiction of the
High Court to entertain a second appeals after the 1976 amendment is
confined only to such appeals as involve a substantial question of law,
C specifically set out in the memorandum of appeal and formulated by the
High Court. Of course, the proviso to the Section shows that nothing shall
be deemed to take away or abridge the power of the Court to hear, for
reasons to be recorded, the appeal on any other substantial question of law,
not formulated by it, if the Court is satisfied that the case involves such a
D question. The proviso presupposes that the court shall indicate in its order
the substantial question of law which it proposes to decide even if such
substantial question of law was not earlier formulated by it. The existence
of a "substantial question of law" is thus, the sine-qua-non for the exercise
of the jurisdiction under the amended provisions of Section 100 C.P.C.
E Generally speaking, an appellant is not to be allowed to set up a new
case in second appeal or raise a new issue (otherwise than a jurisdictional
one), not supported by the pleadings or evidence on the record and unless
the appeal involves a substantial question of law, a second appeal shall not
lie to the High Court under the amended provisions. In the present case,
F no such question of law was formulated in the memorandum of appeal in
the High Court and grounds (6) and (7) in the memorandum of the second
appeal on which reliance is placed did not formulate any substantial
question of law. The learned single Judge of the High Court also, as it
transpires from a perusal of the judgment under appeal, did not formulate
any substantial question of law in the appeal and dealt with the second
G appeal, not on any substantial question of law, but treating it as if it was a
first appeal, as of right, against the judgment and decree of the subordinate
Court. The intendment of the legislature in amending Section 100 C.P.C.
was, thus, respected in its breach. Both the trial court and the lower
appellate court had decided the cases only on questions of fact, on the
H basis of the pleadings and the evidence led by the parties before the Trial
PANCHUGOPALBARUAv. U.C.GOSWAMI(DR.ANAND,J.) 23
Court. No pure question of law nor even a mixed question of law and fact A
was urged before the Trial Court or the First Appellate Court by the
respondent. The High Court was, therefore, not justified in entertaining
the second appeal on an altogether new point, neither pleaded nor can-
vassed in the subordinate courts and that too by overlooking the changes
brought about in Section 100 C.P.C. by the Amendment Act of 1976 B
without even indicating that a substantial question of law was required to
be resolved in the second appeal. To say the least, the approach of the
High Court was not proper. It is the obligation of the courts of law to
further the clear intendnient of the legislature and not to frustrate it by
ignoring the same.
c
In the case of Chevalier LI. Iyyappan and Another v. The Dhar-
modayam Co., Trichur, AIR (1966) SC 1017, Kapoor, J. speaking for a
three Judges Bench considered the case of a party, which had tried to
change its stand at the appellate stage by raising a plea of licence and its
irrevocability, a plea not raised at the Trial Court nor adjudicated upon at D
any stage. It was noticed :
"The appellant in this Court has mainly relied on the plea
that he had been granted a license and acting upon the license
he had executed a work of a permanent character and incurred
expenses in the execution thereof and therefore under Section E
60(b) of the Indian Easements Act, 1882 (5 of 1882), hereinafter
referred to as the 'Act', which was applicable to the area where
the property is situate and therefore the license was irrevocable.
Now in the trial court no plea of license or its irrevocability was raised
but what was pleaded was the validity of the trust in Exhibit X. F
In the judgment of the trial court no such question was dis-
cussed. In the grounds of appeal in his appeal to the High Court
which the appellant took against the decree of the trial court
the relevant grounds are 9 to 13.
The Court on the basis of the above facts and circumstances observed that G
it was not open to the party to change his case at the appellate stage and
since the plea of licence or its irrevocability had not been raised before the
Trial Court, the same could 11ot have been raised in the High Court and
upheld the judgment of the High Court refusing the permission to raise
such a plea at the appellate stage for the first time. That judgment clearly H
24 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1997) 2 S.C.R.
A applies to the facts of the present case. The learned Single Judge noticed
this judgment but opined that the decision could not prevent the appellant
in the High Court from taking the plea regarding the protection of Section
60(b) of the Act "inasmuch as the granting of licence and raising of .
structure is the case of the plaintiff himself''. Even after noticing that the
B appellant had specifically raised the defence both in the Trial Court and
in the First Appellate Court that he had raised the construction as a
prospective owner, the learned Single Judge went on to say that since the
plaintiffs case in the plaint was that a licence had been granted to the
appellant to raise the structure, relief could be granted to the defendant
on the plea raised by the plaintiff himself ignoring the stand of the defen-
C dant as the plaintiff had to succeed or fail on the strength of his own case
and not on the weakness of the defence. There may not be any quarrel with
the abstract proposition of law that a plaintiff can succeed on the strength
of his own case and not on the weakness of the defence but what the High
Court seems to have completely overlooked is that the plaintiffs case
D specifically was that he had allowed the defendant to make pem1issive use
of the suit land as a licencee and had permitted the raising of temporary
st1ucture thereon for a period of two years beginning 1st June, 1963 and
that the defendant acting on the licence had raised a temporary structure
on the suit land and contrary to the understanding had refused to hand
back the possession of the suit land after the expiry of two years. This plea
E of the plaintiff had to be taken as a whole and could not be dissected for
the purpose of granting relief to the respondent by accepting a part of it.
On the plaintiffs plea, taken as a whole , the question of irrevocability of
the licence could not at all arise because for granting relief on the prin-
ciples contained in Section 60(b) of the Easements Act, a licence becomes
F irrevocable provided the following three conditions are satisfied :
(1) that the occupier must be a licensee;
(2) that he should have acted upon the licence;
G (3) and executed a work of pennanent character and incurred expen-
ses for the execution of the work.
The learned Single Judge of the High Court relied upon the report
of the Advocate Commissioner to opine that the structure raised by the
defendant on the suit property was a penna11e11t character. In doing so it
H ignored not only the other evidence on the record but also that the report
PAN CHU GOPAL BARUA v. U.C. GOSWAMI [DR. ANAND, J.) 25
of the Advocate Commissioner was submitted in 1975, while the question A
of raising construction was to be considered in relation to the period of
the licence i.e. 1.6.1963 and 1.6.1965. According to the plaintiff-appellant
only temporary construction had been permitted and raised at the site and
when request was made by the appellant to the licencee to vacate and
handover khas possession the same did not evoke any response. On the
B.
-.
strength of the plaintiff-appellant's case, as noticed above, the High Court
fell in error in holding that the licence could not be revoked because of
the raising of permanent structure by the licencee, a case totally inconsis-
tent with the defence raised in the Trial Court and the First Appellate
Court by respondent No. 1. Such a plea ought not to have been allowed to
be raised at the stage of the second appeal in the High Court for the first C
time in the second appeal. However, since the High Court has interfered
with concurrent findings of fact recorded by the two courts below, we do
not propose to rest our judgment only on the ground of non-maintainability
of the second appeal and proceed to examine the merits of the judgment
under appeal also.
D
The main submission made by learned counsel for the appellant-
defendant (respondent herein) in the High Court was that the defendant
could not have been asked to vacate the premises in as much as the licence
granted to him had become irrevocable in view of the provisions of Section
60(b) of the Easements Act because the appellant acting upon the licence E
had constructed structures of a permanent character on the suit land by
spending money on it, thereby satisfying all the requirements of the said
Section. The preliminary objection of the plaintiff-respondents (appellants
herein) that no new plea regarding the irrevocability of the licence, could
be allowed to be raised.for the first time in the High Court as such a plea F
had not been urged either in the pleadings or during the arguments before
the Trial Court or before the First Appellate Court and no evidence had
been led in support of the new plea was rejected. It was observed :
"Before the submission advanced by Shri Goswami is examined,
it would be apposite to state at the threshold that the aforesaid G
point was not urged in the way it has been advanced in this Court
either before the Trial Court or before the learned District Judge.
Shri Batua appearing for the respondent, therefore, raised an
objection that this new plea may not be allowed to be raised for
the first time in this Court. In this connection, he referred to C. H
26 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997] 2 S.C.R.
A Iyyappan v. Dharmodayam Co., AIR (1966) SC 1017, in para 8 of
which this aspect of the matter has been dealt with. In that case
also a plea was sought to be taken that the appellant before the
Court was protected by Section 60(b) of the Act. The plea, how-
ever, was not allowed to be raised because in the trial court no
plea of licence or its irrevocability was raised; the defence taken
B was entirely different. This decision cannot prevent the appellant
from taking the plea of protection under Section 60(b) of the Act
in the present case inasmuch as the granting of licence and raising
of the structure is the case of the plaintiff himself. It is no doubt
true that the defence taken by the defendant in the trial court was
-
'
c not one which had been advanced by Shri Goswami. It was relating
to agreement to purchase the suit land following which the defen-
dant had come to occupy the suit land; but this is not enough. In
my view to disallow the appellant to raise the point urged by Shri
· Goswami inasmuch as the same is a question of law and is based
on the pleading of the plaintiff," is not proper.
D
The learned Single Judge noticed that the Easement Act had no applica-
tion to the State of Assam, but went on to opine that the defendant was
protected by Section 60(b) of the Act which 'operates ' in this case relying
upon the View expressed by Tek Chand, J. in Jagat Singh v. District Board,
E AIR (1940) Lahore, 409 which had relied upon the opinion of Suleinan;
CJ in Mathuri v. Bhola Nath, AIR (1934) All. 517.
The approach of the learned Single Judge in our opinion was er-
. roneous. Once it was found that the Easement Act had no application to
p the State of Assam, the question of "clearing the way for Section 60(b) of
the Act to operate" cannot at all arise. Of course, the principles of ·~ustice,
equity and good conscience" on which Section 60(b) of the Easement Act
rests may apply in the facts and circumstances of a given case but that is
not to say that though the Easemmt Act does not apply, provisions of Section
60(b) of the Easement Act still "operate". Since, the legislature did not intend
G the Act to apply to Assam, the learned Single Judge could not have
defeated that intendment by holding that "the defendant of the present case
was protected by Section 60(b) of the Act". It is not per.missible to extend
the provisions of the Act, made not applicable by the legislature to a State,
by a judicial order as it amounts to enacting legislation by the High Court,
H a power not vested in the judiciary.
PANCHUGOPALBARUAv. U.C.GOSWAMI[DR.ANAND,J.) 27
Even otherwise, the grant of relief to the respondent even on the A
principles of 'justice, equity and good conscience" which doctrine appears
to have been pressed into aid, was on the facts and circumstances of the
--- case, not permissible. A court of equity, it should be remembered, must so
act as to prevent perpetration of a legal fraud. It is expected to do justice
by promotion of honesty and good faith, as far as it lies within its power. B
- A party seeking relief in equity must come to the. court with clean hands.
In the present case, the respondent herein denied that he was a licencee
of the appellant or had been given permissive use to raise temporary
structures on the suit land for a period of two years. He set up a 'title' to
the suit land as a 'prospective purchaser' on the basis of an 'oral ag;reement C
- to sell in himself claiming to have occupied the suit land in his capacity as
a "prospective purchaser". All the three courts, including the High Court,
found that plea of the respondent to be 'false' in the suit for specific
performance filed by the respondent. S.L.P. against the judgment and
decree, was also dismissed by this Court. How then could the respondent D
be found entitled to any relief in equity, when his defence was based on
falsehood? We have noticed the conduct of the respondent in denying the
title of the appellant herein and putting forward a plea which has been
concurrently found by all the courts to be false. He, therefore, certainly did
not come to the Court with clean hands. Thus, even if it be assumed for
the sake of argument, that the principles of 'justice, equity and good E
consicence' underlying the provisions of Section 60(b) of the Easements
Act, could be attracted in a given case in the State of Assam where the
Easements Act had not been extended, the conduct of the respondent
disentitled him to any relief on the basis of 'equity, justice and good
conscience'. The reliance placed by the High Court on the Division Bench F
judgment of the Lahore High Court in the case of Jagat Si11gh a11d Other
v. Distiict Board (supra) is misplaced, Indeed in the Province of Punjab,
the Easements act was not in force and Takchand, J. speaking for the Court
invoked the common law doctrine of 'equity, justice and good conscience',
which the learned Judge found to be substantially the same as that con- G
tained in Section 60 of the Easements Act, to decide the. Letters Patent
Appeal. On facts, it was found that the land in dispute was being actually
used .by the District Board for the purpose for which it had been given to
it on licence. It was also established on facts that more than 10 years ago,
the defendant had erected a boundary wall and a pucca gate at a consid- H
28 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1997] 2 S.C.R.
A erable cost a that those works were of a permanent character. It was in this
fact situation that Tekchand, J. held that even if the Easements Act was
r
not applicable to the Province of Punjab, it was not open to the appellant
to revoke the licence, on their option and resume the land, since construc-
tion of permanent character had been built by the defendent acting upol1
B the licence granted by the appellant to him on principles of 'justice, equity
and good.conscience'. The fact situation inlagat Singh's case (supra) was,
thus, totally different. The licencee therein had raised a permanent con-
struction acting upon the.licence after incurring expenditure for raising the
permanent construction and it was for that reason that the court held that
the licence could not be revoked at the sweet will of the licensor. In the
c present case, the respondent has categorically denied to be a licencee of
the appellant or that he had raised any construction acting on the licence.
He was, thus, not entitled to any relief in the second appeal. The judgment
of the .High Court under the circumstances cannot be sustained. This
appeal succeeds and is allowed. The judgment and order of the High Court
D are hereby set aside and the judgment and decree of the Trial Court, as
confirmed by the First Appellate Court, are restored. We, however make
no order as to costs.
v.s.s. Appeal· allowed.
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