JUDGMENT Banerji and Aikman, JJ.
1. The only question which arises in this appeal is whether an appeal lay to the District Judge from the decree of the Collector. The suit was one for arrears of rent and the amount claimed was below Rs. 100, In the suit the question of the rent payable by the tenant, that is, of the rate of rent, was in issue, and there was a further question as to payments made by the tenant. Both these questions were determined by the Court of First Instance. The issue as to the rate of rent was decided against the landlord and that as to payments was determined against the tenant. The landlord submitted to the judgment of the Court of First Instance. It was the tenant only who appealed, and his appeal had reference to the question of the payment alalleged by him and disallowed by the Court of First Instance, Now what we have to determine in this appeal, is, whether under the provisions of Section 189 of Act No, XII of 1881 the tenant could appeal to the District Judge from the decree made against him. We have to construe the section as it exists in the Act. The section provides that an appeal shall his from a decision of a Collector of the District or Assistant Collector of the first class in all suits mentioned in Section 93 in which the rent payable by the tenant has been a matter in issue and has been determined." The appeal is not limited to the question of the rate of rent, but it is given in every suit in which that question having been in issue has bean determined. In this case the question of the rate of rent was in issue in to Court of First Instance and was determined by that Court, consequently the condition necessary to give a right of appeal under the section was fulfilled, it is true that, had no question arisen in the Court of First Instance as to the rate of rent, there could have been no appeal on the question of payment, but we have to construe the section as we find it. As, according to the language used in Section 189, an appeal lies in every suit in which, the question of the rent payable by a tenant has been in issue and has been determined, an appeal lay in this case to the District Judge. The point taken here cannot therefore be sustained. We dismiss the appeal with costs.