J.C. Shah, J.@mdashVasudev Dhanjibhai Modi is the owner of Plot No. 15/3 of Jamalpur Town Planning Scheme, Ahmedabad. Since 1948
Rajabhai Munshi was a tenant of the land at an annual rental of Rs. 411/-. Alleging that Munshi committed default in payment of rent, Modi
instituted a suit in the Court of Small Causes, Ahmedabad, for an order in ejectment and for payment of rent in arrears. Munshi deposited in Court
an amount which he claimed satisfied the liability to pay the rent in arrears. The Court of first instance dismissed the suit. In appeal to the District
Court at Ahmedabad the order of the Court of First Instance was reversed and a decree in ejectment was passed in favour of Modi. The order
was confirmed in a revision application filed before the High Court of Bombay. A petition for special leave to appeal against that order was
granted by this Court but was later vacated when it was found that Munshi had made false statements in his petition.
2. In the meanwhile Modi applied for execution of the decree in ejectment against Munshi. Munshi raised the contention that the Court of Small
Causes had no jurisdiction to entertain the suit and its decree was on that account a nullity. According to Munshi the suit premises were not
governed by the Bombay Rents Hotel & Lodging House Rates (Control) Act 57 of 1947, and that in any event Parts II & III of that Act did not
apply to open land and on that account the decree of the High Court confirming the decree of the District Court was without jurisdiction. The
Court executing the decree rejected the contention. An appeal against that order to a Bench of the Court of Small Causes was also unsuccessful.
3.But in a petition under Article 227 of the Constitution moved by Munshi the High Court of Gujarat (that High Court having, by virtue of the
provisions of the Bombay Reorganisation Act, 1960, acquired jurisdiction to deal with and dispose of the case) reversed the order of the Court of
Small Causes and ordered that the petition for execution be dismissed. With special leave, Modi has appealed to this Court.
4. The expression ""premises"" in Section 5(8) of the Bombay Rents Hotel & Lodging House Rates (Control) Act 57 of 1947 does not include
premises used for agricultural purposes. By Section 6 of that Act the provisions of Part II which relate to conditions in which orders in ejectment
may be made against tenants and other related matters apply to premises let for education, business, trade or storage. It is plain that the Court
exercising power under the Bombay Rents Hotel & Lodging House Rates (Control) Act, 1947, has no jurisdiction to entertain a suit for possession
of land used for agricultural purposes. Again in ascertaining whether the land demised is used for agricultural purposes, the crucial date is date on
which line right conferred by the Act is sought to be exercised : Mst. Subhadra v. Narasaji Chenaji Marwadi [1962] 3 S.C.R. 98 .
5. In this case the suit for ejectment against Munshi was instituted by Modi in the Court of Small Causes. No objection was raised that the Court
had no jurisdiction to entertain the suit. The objection was not raised even in appeal, nor before the High Court. The Trial Court dismissed the suit
on merits : the decree was reversed by the District Court and that decree was confirmed by the High Court. The objection was raised for the first
time when the decree was sought to be executed.
6. A Court executing a decree cannot go behind the decree : between the parties or their representatives it must take the decree according to its
tenor, and cannot entertain any objection that the decree was incorrect in law or on facts. Until it is set aside by an appropriate proceeding in
appeal or revision, a decree even if it be erroneous is still binding between the parties.
7. When a decree which is a nullity, for instance, where it is passed without bringing the legal representatives on the record of a person who was
dead at the date of the decree, or against a ruling prince without a certificate, is sought to be executed an objection in that behalf may be raised in a
proceeding for execution. Again, when the decree is made by a Court which has no inherent jurisdiction to make it, objection as to its validity may
be raised in an execution proceeding if the objection appears on the face of the record : where the objection as to the jurisdiction of the Court to
pass the decree does not appear on the face of the record and requires examination of the questions raised and decided at the trial or which could
have been but have not been raised, the executing Court will have no jurisdiction to entertain an objection as to the validity of the decree even on
the ground of absence of jurisdiction. In Jnanendra Mohan Bhaduri and Anr. v. Rabindra Nath Chakravarti L.R. 60 IndAp 71 the Judicial
Committee held that where a decree was passed upon an award made under the provisions of the Indian Arbitration Act, 1899, an objection in the
course of the execution proceeding that the decree was made without jurisdiction, since under the Indian Arbitration Act, 1899, there is no
provision for making a decree upon an award, was competent. That was a case in which the decree was on the face of the record without
jurisdiction.
8. In the present case the question whether the Court of Small Causes had jurisdiction to entertain the suit against Munshi depended upon the
interpretation of the terms of the agreement of lease, and the user to which the land was put at the date of the grant of the lease. These questions
cannot be permitted to be raised in an execution proceeding so as to displace the jurisdiction of the Court which passed the decree. If the decree is
on the face of the record without jurisdiction and the question does not relate to the territorial jurisdiction or u/s 11 of the Suits Valuation Act,
objection to the jurisdiction of the Court to make the decree may be raised; where it is necessary to investigate facts in order to determine whether
the Court which had passed the decree had no jurisdiction to entertain and try the suit, the objection cannot be raised in the execution proceeding.
9. The High Court was of the view that where there is lack of inherent jurisdiction in the Court which passed the decree, the executing Court must
refuse to execute it on the ground that the decree is a nullity. But, in our judgment, for the purpose of determining whether the Court which passed
the decree had jurisdiction to try the suit, it is necessary to determine facts on the decision of which the question depends, and the objection does
not appear on the face of the record, the executing Court cannot enter upon and enquiry into those facts. In the view of the High Court since the
land leased was at the date of the lease used for agricultural purposes and that it so appeared on investigation of the terms of the lease and other
relevant evidence, it was open to the Court to hold that the decree was without jurisdiction and on that account a nullity. The view taken by the
High Court, in our judgment, cannot be sustained.
10. The appeal is allowed and the order passed by the High Court is set aside. The order of the Court of Small Causes is restored. The
respondent Munshi will pay the costs of the appellant throughout.