Statutory appeal bar on compensation awards applies where a rejected claim counts as an award below the prescribed limit.

The statutory right of appeal under the Defence of India Act was confined by the Rules, and the appellate bar in the second proviso to Rule 19 depended on the amount of compensation actually awarded, not the amount claimed. A complete rejection of the compensation claim was treated as an award not exceeding the prescribed limit, so the appeal fell within the statutory bar. No appeal lay to the High Court against the Arbitrator's order rejecting the claim entirely, and the appellate jurisdiction was not maintainable.

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Issues: Whether an appeal lay to the High Court against an award rejecting the claimant's compensation claim under the Defence of India Act and Rules.

Analysis: The right of appeal under section 19 of the Defence of India Act, 1939 was conferred only by statute and was subject to the limits prescribed by the Rules framed thereunder. The second proviso to Rule 19 barred an appeal where the amount of compensation awarded did not exceed Rs. 5,000. The bar was held to depend on the amount awarded by the Arbitrator, not on the amount claimed by the appellant. A complete rejection of the claim amounted to an award not exceeding Rs. 5,000, and therefore fell within the appellate bar.

Conclusion: No appeal lay to the High Court against the Arbitrator's order rejecting the claim entirely; the appeal was not maintainable.

Final Conclusion: The statutory limitation on appeal controlled the matter, and the claimants were not entitled to invoke the High Court's appellate jurisdiction.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statute makes the right of appeal depend on the amount of compensation awarded, a complete rejection of the claim is treated as an award not exceeding the prescribed limit, and the appeal is barred.

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