Letters Patent appeal in probate matters remains maintainable where the special statute provides an appeal and no express exclusion exists.

A special statute granting an appeal under the Indian Succession Act preserves an intra-court remedy under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent unless the statute expressly excludes it. In contentious probate proceedings, the final order may not be a decree under the Code of Civil Procedure, but it can still qualify as a judgment for Letters Patent purposes. Section 104 of the Code does not itself create the appeal and does not bar an additional appeal where the special enactment provides one; its prohibition applies only to appeals under that section.

---

---

Issues: Whether a Letters Patent Appeal lies against a learned Single Judge's judgment passed in an appeal under Section 299 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, and whether Section 104 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 bars such an appeal.

Analysis: The statutory scheme of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 shows that probate and letters of administration proceedings are regulated by the Code of Civil Procedure only as to procedure, while the substantive right of appeal is created by Section 299 itself. In contentious probate proceedings, the final order may not be a decree within Section 2(2) of the Code, but it is a judgment within Section 2(9) of the Code and therefore falls within Clause 15 of the Letters Patent unless expressly excluded. Section 104 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 does not create the appeal and does not bar an additional appeal where the special statute provides one; the prohibition in Section 104(2) applies only to appeals under that section. The authorities relied upon to deny maintainability were distinguished as turning on different statutory settings.

Conclusion: The Letters Patent Appeal was maintainable and was not barred by Section 104 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed, and the High Court's view on maintainability of the Letters Patent Appeal was affirmed, leaving the connected appeal before the High Court to be decided expeditiously.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a special statute expressly grants a right of appeal, Section 104 of the Code of Civil Procedure does not bar a further intra-court appeal under the Letters Patent unless the special statute expressly excludes it.

---