Retrospective relief against excessive interest applies to a pending mortgage appeal because the appeal remains part of the suit.

A retrospective remedial amendment under the Usurious Loans Act, as extended by the Punjab Relief of Indebtedness Act, applied to a mortgage suit that was still alive in appeal. The Court treated an appeal from a preliminary decree as a continuation of the suit, since the preliminary decree did not finally terminate the proceedings and the final decree depended on the appellate outcome. Because section 6 gave the amendment retrospective effect to pending suits, the appellate court was bound to reopen the transaction and apply the amended rule against excessive interest. No vested right prevented the amended law from operating at the appellate stage.

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Issues: Whether the amended provisions relating to excessive interest under the Usurious Loans Act, as extended by the Punjab Relief of Indebtedness Act, could be applied in an appeal where a preliminary mortgage decree had already been passed but the suit had not yet reached finality.

Analysis: Section 5 of the Punjab Relief of Indebtedness Act amended section 3 of the Usurious Loans Act so that the Court was bound to reopen a transaction if the interest was excessive, and section 6 gave the amendment retrospective effect to suits pending on or instituted after commencement of the Act. The decisive question was whether an appeal from a preliminary decree formed part of a pending suit. The Court held that an appeal is a continuation of the suit and that a preliminary decree does not terminate the suit, because the final decree still depends on the result of the appeal. The retrospective language was therefore wide enough to include matters still alive in appeal, and no vested right barred the application of the amended law.

Conclusion: The amended provisions were applicable to the pending appeal, and the reduction of interest by the High Court was in law.

Final Conclusion: The appeal was liable to fail because the statutory relief against excessive interest extended to the pending appellate stage of the mortgage suit.

Ratio Decidendi: For a retrospective remedial amendment governing pending suits, an appeal from a decree in the suit is treated as part of the pending suit, so the appellate court must apply the amended law.

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