Section 152 correction of decree after appeal lies with the appellate court once the original court becomes functus officio.

A clerical omission in a decree, where interest awarded in the judgment was left out of the drawn decree, is correctable under section 152. However, once the decree has been appealed from and the appeal finally disposed of, the trial court becomes functus officio for amendment purposes and cannot itself alter the decree. In that situation, the decree in law is the appellate decree, so the appellate court alone has jurisdiction to direct the correction. The subordinate judge's attempted amendment was therefore without jurisdiction, and the appellate court properly rectified the decree to conform with the judgment.

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Issues: Whether the court of first instance retained jurisdiction to amend a decree under section 152 after the decree had been appealed from and the appeal had been dismissed, and whether the appellate court alone could correct the clerical mistake in the decree.

Analysis: The decree as drawn up omitted interest from the date of institution of the suit to the date of realisation, although the judgment had allowed it. That omission was a clerical mistake capable of correction under section 152. However, once the decree had been taken in appeal and the appeal had been finally disposed of, the original court became functus officio in respect of amendment of that decree. The power to correct the decree thereafter vested in the appellate court, because the decree in law had become the appellate decree. The contrary authorities relied on for the respondent were distinguished as not overruling the settled line of earlier decisions.

Conclusion: The subordinate judge had no jurisdiction to amend the decree after disposal of the appeal. The High Court itself was competent to make the correction and directed amendment of the decree to include interest at 6 per cent per annum from the date of institution of the suit to the date of realisation.

Final Conclusion: The challenge to the lower court's competence failed, but the clerical omission in the decree was rectified by the appellate court, so the decree was brought into conformity with the judgment.

Ratio Decidendi: After a decree has been finally dealt with on appeal, the court that originally passed it becomes functus officio for purposes of amendment under section 152, and the power to correct the decree vests in the appellate court.

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