Succession certificate proceedings do not create res judicata; inter se rights may still be tried in later civil suits.

A succession-certificate proceeding is a summary process limited to a prima facie assessment for collection of debts and protection of the debtor. The certificate's conclusive effect under Section 381 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 operates only against the debtor for payments made in good faith, while Section 387 preserves the trial of the same question in a later suit or proceeding between the same parties. Section 11 CPC, including Explanation VIII, does not displace this statutory scheme. An incidental finding in the certificate proceeding does not finally determine inter se rights, so the grant of a succession certificate does not bar a subsequent partition suit as res judicata.

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Issues: Whether an order granting a succession certificate under Section 373 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 operates as res judicata in a subsequent civil suit for partition between the same parties.

Analysis: A succession-certificate proceeding is a summary proceeding confined to the grant of a certificate on a prima facie assessment of title for the limited purpose of enabling collection of debts and protecting the debtor. Section 381 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 gives the certificate conclusive effect only as against the debtor in respect of payment made in good faith, while Section 387 expressly provides that no decision under Part X bars the trial of the same question in any subsequent suit or other proceeding between the same parties. The principle in Section 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, including Explanation VIII, does not override this statutory scheme, and an incidental finding in the certificate proceeding does not amount to a final adjudication of inter se rights.

Conclusion: The grant of a succession certificate does not operate as res judicata in a later suit between the same parties.

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