S.R. Jaya Rao vs Venkatanarayana Chetty and Another

Venkatasubba Rao, J.—Both the lower Courts have treated the sum payable under the decree on a breach of the condition, in the nature of a penalty and relying upon Sheikh Mohidin Tharagan v. Vadivalagia-nambia Pillai (1914) M.W.N. 22 have dismissed the plaintiff''s application.

The question to be decided is : Is the doctrine of relieving against penalty to be applied to decrees? In Nagappa v. Venkatrao (1901) 24 Mad. 265 it has been held that the adoption of a contract by a Court amounts to an adoption if it with all its legal incidents and that the considerations which would arise if a mere contract were in question would equally apply to the enforcement of a decree embodying the contract. As the Court would have relieved the defendant from the penalty if the question had ''arisen in respect of a mere contract, it was likewise justified in relieving him from the penalty in the compromise decree containing the contract between the parties. The order, therefore, of the lower Court is correct and this appeal is dismissed, but in the circumstances without costs.