TMI Blog1956 (5) TMI 35X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... isions of the Act, and several other questions were raised. But the real question that arises is the question of jurisdiction and that depends upon the meaning to be attached to the word debts . There is no doubt that the applicants were displaced persons and that if the claim can be brought within the meaning of the word debt the Tribunal would have jurisdiction to determine the matter. Mr. Bhatnagar acting as a Tribunal has held against the applicants finding that debt does not include a claim for damages for breach of contract of sale of goods. The applicants have come up in revision to this Court and the matter was heard by Hon'ble the Chief Justice Bhandari C. J., who referred the matter to a Division Bench. 4. Two questions would arise: (1) whether an amount of money borrowed for the first time after the partition or a claim to damages which arises out of a breach of contract after the partition is a debt ; and (2) whether a claim for damages for breach of contract by itself is covered by the definition of the word debt as given in Section 2(6) of the Act 5. With regard to the first point there is conflict of authority in this Court itself. I had held th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the commission of a tort is the question now before us. In jurisprudence, Civil proceedings, if successful, result in a judgment for damages, or in a judgment for the payment of a debt or (in a penal action) a penalty, or in an injunction or decree of specific restitution or specific performance or in an order of mandamus, prohibition, or ceriorari, or in a writ of habeas corpus, or in other forms of relief known distinctively as civil. Sal-mond on jurisprudence p. 106. There are cases where civil and criminal proceedings may result similarly, i.e., the defendant may be ordered to pay money. There are statutes in England where a common informer, who is a person who first sues for penalty for the breach of certain statutes, may be able to sue on his own account and thus in all these cases the outcome is a decree for money. Can it be said that all these cases were within the contemplation of the legislation when they gave definition to the word debt in the language which they have used in Section 2(3) of the Act? 8. There is a distinction between a remedy for the repayment of an amount borrowed and in regard to publishing of a libel. According to Salmond the remedy of a borrow ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... niary liability has been held by a judgment of the Bombay High Court in Iron and Hardware (India) Co. v. Firm Sham Lal Bros., 1954 Bom 423 (AIR V 41) (C), where a claim for damages was held not to be covered by the words pecuniary liability under Section 2(6) of the Act. It was observed by Chagla C. J.: Now, in order that there should be a debt there must be an existing obligation. The payment may be due immediately or it may be due in future, but the obligation must arise in order that the debt) should be due. It may even be that the actual amount due in respect of the debt may require ascertainment by some mechanical process or by the taking of accounts. But even when the actual amount is to be ascertained the obligation must exist. It is well settled that when there is a breach of contract the only right that accrues to the person who complains of the breach is the right to file a suit for recovering damages. The breach of contract does not give rise to any debt and therefore it has been held that a right to recover damages is not assignable because it is not a chose in action. An actionable claim can be assigned, but in order that there should be an actionable claim th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to be established and the plaintiff comes to Court for that particular purpose. 13. Learned Advocate for the petitioners emphasises the words to be ascertained . As Chagla C. J. has pointed out, these words cannot make the pecuniary liability to comprise a suit for damages. What it means is that the debt must be due and all that has to be done is the ascertainment of the amount by some process, e.g., taking of accounts. But even in that case there must be a pre-existing liability. 14. A reference was then made by the petitioner to Section 73, Contract Act, which deals with compensation for loss or damage caused by breach of contract, it says : 73. When a contract has been broken, the party who suffers by such breach is entitled to receive, from the party who has broken the contract, compensation for any loss or damage caused to him thereby, which naturally arose in the usual course of things from such breach, or which the parties knew, when they made the contract, to be likely to result from the breach of it. Such compensation is not to be given for any remote and indirect loss or damage sustained by reason of the breach. It gives a right to the aggrieved party to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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