Forum change under agricultural debt law shifted debt classification to the Debt Settlement Board, excluding civil court jurisdiction.

The 1940 amendment to the Bengal Agricultural Debtors Act, 1936 did not change substantive rights or liabilities; it only altered the forum competent to decide whether a liability under a decree was a "debt" within the Act. That shift in forum was procedural and applied to pending matters absent contrary intention. The Debt Settlement Board therefore had exclusive jurisdiction to determine that question, and the civil court could not decide it or vacate the stay of execution.

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Issues: Whether, after the Bengal Agricultural Debtors (Amendment) Act, 1940 came into force, the question whether the liability under the decree was a debt within the meaning of the Bengal Agricultural Debtors Act, 1936 had to be decided only by the Debt Settlement Board, thereby excluding the civil court's jurisdiction.

Analysis: The amendment did not alter the substantive rights or liabilities created by the Bengal Agricultural Debtors Act, 1936. It only shifted the tribunal competent to decide whether a particular liability was a debt within the Act. Such a change of forum is a matter of procedure, and procedural amendments apply to pending matters unless a contrary intention appears. The civil court's jurisdiction to decide that question was therefore taken away, and the Debt Settlement Board alone had jurisdiction to determine it.

Conclusion: The Munsif had no jurisdiction to decide whether the liability was a debt within the Act, and the stay of execution could not be vacated by the civil court.

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