of (a) make an order for the detention, preservation or (b) for all or any of the purposes aforesaid, author- (c) for all or any of the purposes aforesaid, author- The provisions hereinbefore contained as to execution process shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to persons authorized to enter under this section. Inspection of property which is the subject of the suit.—In a suit by A against B for damages for injury alleged to have been caused to A's house by the erection of B's house, the Court may make an order on B's application for inspection of A's house to determine the alleged injury, A's house being in such a case "the subject of the suit" (e). 500. An application by the plaintiff for an order un- Application for such orders to be after notice. summons. An application by the defendant for a like order may be made after notice in writing to the plaintiff, and at any time after the applicant has appeared. When party may be put in immediate possession of land the subject of suit. 501. When land paying revenue to Government, or a tenure liable to sale, is the subject of a suit, if the party in possession of such land or tenure neglects to pay the Government revenue, or the rent due to the proprietor of the tenure, as the case may be, and such land or tenure is consequently ordered to be sold, any other party to the suit claiming to have an interest in such land or tenure may, upon payment of the revenue or rent due (e) Dhoroney v. Radha, 24 Cal, 117. Ss. 499-501 Ss. 501-503 previously to the sale (and with or without security at the discretion of the Court), be put in immediate possession of the land or tenure; and the Court in its decree may award against the defaulter the amount so paid, with interest thereupon at such rate as the Court thinks fit, or may charge the amount so paid, with interest thereupon at such rate as the Court orders, in any adjustment of accounts which may be directed in the decree passed in this suit. 502. Where the subject-matter of a suit is money or Deposit of money, some other thing capable of delivery, &c., in Court. and any party thereto admits that he holds such money or other thing as trustee for another party, or that it belongs or is due to another party, the Court may order the same to be deposited in Court or delivered to such last named party, with or without security, subject to the further direction of the Court. sum of Deposit of money in Court.-Suppose A sues B to recover a Rs. 5,000. Suppose B admits Rs. 4,000 to be due to A, and contests A's claim as to the balance of Rs. 1,000. In such a case, A may apply to the Court to direct B to deposit Rs. 4,000 in Court or to deliver the same to him (A). "Holds.”—This section applies only when the party making the admission holds the property or other thing which the party in whose favour the order is made seeks to have delivered to him (ƒ). 503. CHAPTER XXXVI. APPOINTMENT OF RECEIVERS. Whenever it appears to the Court to be necesPower of Court to sary for the realization, preservation or appoint Receivers. better custody, or management of any property, moveable or immoveable, the subject of a suit, or under attachment, the Court may, by order (a) appoint a Receiver of such property, and if need be, (b) remove the person in whose possession or custody the property may be from the possession or custody thereof; (c) commit the same to the custody or management of such Receiver; (f) Rajah Parthasaradhi v. Rajah Rengiah, 27 Mad. 168. (d) grant to such Receiver such fee or commission or Receiver's liabilities. Every Receiver so appointed shall- (f) pass his accounts at such periods and in such (g) pay the balance due from him thereon as the (h) be responsible for any loss occasioned to the pro- Nothing in this section authorizes the Court to remove from the possession or custody of property under attachment any person whom the parties to the suit, or some or one of them, have or has not a present right so to remove. A receiver is an officer of the Court." The appointment [of a receiver] is the act of the Court and made in the interests of justice. [A receiver] is an officer or representative of the Court, and subject to its orders. His possession is the possession of the Court by its receiver, and the tenants in possession, when he is appointed to receive rents and profits of immoveable property, become vir. tually tenants pro hac vice of the Court, their landlord. His possession is the possession of all the parties to the proceeding according to their titles. The moneys in his hands are in custodia legis for the person who can make a title to them" (g). Legal consequences arising from the fact that a receiver is an officer of the Court :-(1 Property in the hands of a receiver cannot be attached without the leave of the Court first obtained. Thus if a receiver is appointed of certain property in a suit between A and B, and C obtains a decree against A or B, C cannot in execution of his decree attach the property in the hands of the receiver (g) Orr v. Muthia, 17 Mad. 501, 503; Administrator-General v. Prem Lall, 22 Cal. 1011, 1015, 22 I. A. 203. S. 503 S. 503 without the leave of the Court; such an attachment is an interference with the Court's possession through its officer the receiver (h). But if a receiver is appointed of certain property in a suit between A and B, and the property was mortgaged by A to C before the receiver was appointed, and C obtains a decree for sale of the mortgaged property, C may bring the property to sale, though it may be in the hands of the receiver, without the leave of the Court. The reason is that no attachment is necessary before sale in the case of a mortgage-decree, and no attachment being necessary, there could no interference with the possession of the receiver (i). (2). A receiver cannot sue or be sued, except with the leave of the Court by which be was appointed receiver (j). The leave must be obtained before the institution of the suit; it cannot be granted after the institution of the suit (k). The best course for a party feeling aggrieved at the conduct of a receiver is to seek redress against him in the very suit in which he was appointed receiver; if a separate suit is proposed to be brought against the receiver, the party must first apply for the leave of the Court (1). It may here be noted that a receiver is not a necessary party to a suit for a declaration of title and possession of property of which he is appointed receiver (m); nor can he be made a party to a proceeding under sec. 145 of the Criminal Procedure Code merely in his capacity of receiver(n). (3). If a receiver is appointed of the estate of a deceased person with authority to continue the business carried on by the deceased, and in the course of such business debts are properly incurred by the receiver, the persons to whom the debts have become due may proceed not only against the receiver personally but also against the estate of the deceased for the recovery of their debts, and they are entitled to payment of their debts in priority to other creditors of the estate. The right to proceed against the estate is founded on the just and equitable principle that as the acts of a receiver acting within his authority are the acts of the Court, the estate cannot be permitted to enjoy the benefit of those acts without being held liable for the obligations arising out of them (o). (4). If any loss is occasioned to the property by the wilful default or gross negligence of the receiver, the loss is to be borne not by the party on whose application the receiver was appointed (for a receiver is not an agent of such party), but by the estate in the first instance. The party damnified by the loss may then proceed against the receiver (p). (5). A receiver being an officer of the Court, it is contempt of Court for any of the parties to enter into an agreement with him restricting and controlling his powers. The Court alone has the power to determine the powers of a receiver (q). (6). A receiver being an officer of the Court, the Court alone has to determine his fees or remuneration; hence a promise by a party to pay the remuneration of a receiver without leave from the Court is against law, and is not therefore binding on the promisor (r). (h) Kahn v. Alli Mahomed, 16 Bom. 577. (k) Pramatha Nath v. Khetra Nath, 32 (1) Kamatchi v. Sundaram, 26 Mad. 492. (7). Where a receiver is appointed by a Court of property the subject of a suit, a Magistrate has no jurisdiction under sec. 145 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to interfere with him in respect of his possession of the property without the sanction of the Court, his possession being the possession of the Court (s). Powers of Court under this section." Section 503 of the Code of Civil Procedure certainly gives a wide discretion to the Court. It empowers the Court to appoint a receiver whenever it appears to be necessary for the realization, preservation, or better custody or management of any property the subject of a suit. This power is not, however, greater than that exercised by the Courts in England, and it must, we think, be exercised on the same principles, that is to say, with a sound discretion, on a view of the whole circumstances of the case, not merely circumstances which might make the appointment expedient for the protection of the property, but all the circumstances connected with the right which is asserted and has to be established." Hence the Court should not appoint a receiver of property which is in the possession of a defendant claiming the same under a legal title, unless the plaintiff can show primâ facie that he has a strong case and a good title to such property (t). The mere circumstance that the appointment of a receiver will do no harm to any one is no ground for appointing a receiver (u). Which Court may appoint a receiver.-The power to appoint a receiver under this section is given only to the Court in which the suit is brought or by which the property has been attached. Hence a District Judge has no power to appoint a receiver of property which is the subject of a suit or attachment in another Court, even though such Court may be subordinate to his own (v). Whether a receiver can be appointed when an executor is in possession. In England the rule is that the Court will not appoint a receiver against an executor unless gross misconduct is shown, and the same rule, it is submitted, applies to the case of an executor of the will of a person subject to the provisions of the Indian Succession Act. This rule, however, does not apply in the case of an executor of the will of a Mahomedan. The reason is that while in the case of persons governed by the Succession Act, a testator can dispose of the whole of his property by his will, a Mahomedan testator cannot dispose of more than one-third of his property by his will (w). Where a receiver is appointed of the estate of a deceased person, and the estate is being administered by the Court, the Court may authorise the receiver to pay out of the estate in his hands pressing claims against the estate (x). Temporary injunctions and appointment of receiver. The distinction between a case in which a temporary injunction may be granted and a case in which a receiver may be appointed is that while in either case it must be shown that the property should be preserved from waste or alienation, in the former case it would be sufficient if it be shown that the plaintiff in the suit has a fair question to raise as to the existence of the right alleged, while in the latter case a good primâ facie title to the property over which the receiver is sought to be appointed has to be made out (y). S. 503 |