A
MOSES WILSON AND ORS.
V.
KASTURIBA AND ORS.
SEPTEMBER 20, 2007
B
[A.K. MATHUR AND MARKANDEY KAT JU, JJ.]
Administration of Justice:
c
Disposal of old matters-Suit for recovery of money filed in
1947-0rder for attachment before judgment challenged-Case
involving complicated issues stretching over 60 years-Held: With
consent of parties the entire property which is the subject matter nf
litigation is directed to be divided by the District Judge concerned in
D equal shares between the two parties.
Administration of Justice:
Curing the delay in disposal of cases in courts-Need for
emphasized-Authorities concerned suggested to do the needful in the
E matter urgently.
Rajindra Singh (D) through LRs. and Ors. v. Prem Mai and Ors.,
[2007] 9 SCR 300, relied on and reiterated.
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal Nos. 1062-
F 1065of2007.
From the Judgment and Order dated 31.07.1998 of the High Court
of Judicature at Madras in C.R.P. Nos. 3679 to 3682of1987.
Dr. A. Francis Julian, Swnit Kumar and Amit Kumar Mishra (for
G Arputham, Aruna & Co.) for the Appellants.
~
-1
""'
K. Ramamoorthy, V. Prabhakar, Ramjee Prasad and Revathy
't-
Raghavan for the Respondents.
The following Order of the Court was delivered :
146
MOSES WILSON v. KASTURIBA
147
We have heard learned Counsel for the parties.
A
We are disposing of all the four appeals by a common order.
These appeals arise out of a suit filed in 194 7 and subsequent
Proceedings. The suit was for a sum of Rs. 7,000/- and there was an
order for attachment before judgment of the dry fish of the defendant. A B
third party claimed ownership of the dry fish and he applied for release.
of the attachment order. It is not necessary to give further details of the
case because the facts involved are very complicated stretching over 60
years. Therefore, with the consent of learned counsel for the parties we
cut short the matter and direct that the entire property which is the subject c
matter of this litigation may be divided in equal shares between the two
parties. Half share should be given to the appellants and the other half
should be given to the respondents.
To decide which part should go to the appellants and which part
should go to the respondents, as many properties are involved, it is just D
and proper that this exercise may be done by the District Judge, ,..
Kanyakumari at Nagercoil himself or by the Additional District Judge
nominated by the District Judge. The District Judge may issue notices to
both parties and divide the properties in two equal shares. If any person
has any grievance against the order passed by the District Judge (or E
A.DJ., as the case may be), it will be open for either of the parties to
approach this Court for further clarification. The District Judge,
Kanyakumari, Nagercoil (or A.DJ. nominated by him) is directed to
dispose of the matter preferably within a period of six months.
F
Let all the records which are available here be transmitted to the
District Judge, Kanyakumari, Nagercoil.
The appeals are accordingly disposed of in the above terms.
Before parting with this case, we again express our deep concern G
at the delay in disposing of cases in our Courts. Recently in Civil Appeal
No. 1307 of2001 titled Rajindra Singh (Dead) thr. Lrs. & Ors. v. Prem
Mai & Ors. decided on 23rd August, 2007 we had expressed our deep
anguish about this situation, and had observed that because of delay in
disposal of cases people in this country are fast losing faith in the judiciary. H
148
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2007] 10 S.C.R.
A We saw in the media news oflynching of suspected thieves in Bihar's
V aishali District, the gunning down of an undertrial prisoner outside Patna
City Civil Court, and other incidents where people have taken the law
into their own hands. This is obviously because many people have started
thinking that justice will not be done in the Courts due to the delays in
B Court proceedings. This is indeed an alarming state of affairs, and we
once again request the concerned authorities to do the needful in the
matter urgently before the situation goes totally out of control.
RP.
Appeals disposed of.
Lex