Mortgage decree interest may continue after judgment when the debt has merged into the decree and procedural law permits it.

In a mortgage suit, once the contractual claim merges into the decree, the court may award interest on the decretal amount under Section 34 CPC and Order 34, because the decree governs the parties' rights after the redemption date. The procedural scheme did not exclude discretion to grant subsequent interest up to realization. Section 6 of the Sonthal Parganas Settlement Regulation applied only to interest recoverable at the contractual stage and did not bar pendente lite interest or post-decree interest after the debt had merged in the decree. The allowance of the disputed interest was therefore upheld.

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Issues: (i) whether interest could be awarded on the decretal amount after the mortgage decree under Section 34 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 and Order 34 of the First Schedule; (ii) whether Section 6 of the Sonthal Parganas Settlement Regulation (III of 1872) barred pendente lite and post-decree interest on the decretal amount.

Issue (i): whether interest could be awarded on the decretal amount after the mortgage decree under Section 34 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 and Order 34 of the First Schedule.

Analysis: The decree in a mortgage suit fixes an aggregate sum for principal, interest and costs, and after the date fixed for redemption the rights of the mortgagee depend on the decree rather than the original contract. Section 34 was held applicable to mortgage decrees, and Order 34 did not exclude the Court's discretion to grant interest on the decretal amount. The allowance of subsequent interest up to realization was treated as consistent with the governing procedural law.

Conclusion: The allowance of interest on the decretal amount after decree was valid and was not open to objection.

Issue (ii): whether Section 6 of the Sonthal Parganas Settlement Regulation (III of 1872) barred pendente lite and post-decree interest on the decretal amount.

Analysis: Section 6 restricted interest recoverable on the loan or debt while the matter remained within the contractual relation of debtor and creditor. Once a decree was passed, the original loan or debt merged in the decree and ceased to be the subject of enforcement. The prohibition in Section 6 therefore applied to the contractual stage, but not to interest awarded on the decree after the rights had passed into the domain of judgment. The same reasoning also defeated the complaint that pendente lite interest was impermissible.

Conclusion: Section 6 did not bar pendente lite interest or interest on the decretal amount after decree.

Final Conclusion: Both appeals failed, and the decree allowing the disputed interest was left undisturbed.

Ratio Decidendi: In a mortgage suit, once the contractual claim is merged in a decree, statutory restrictions on interest operating upon the loan or debt do not prevent the Court from awarding interest on the decretal amount under the procedural law.

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