Res judicata applies to an earlier instalments decision even without a further second appeal, under the Civil Procedure Code.

A prior decision on instalments can operate as res judicata in a later suit where the matter was directly and substantially decided between the same parties by a court competent to try the subsequent suit. The bar under Section 13 of the Code of Civil Procedure does not depend on the earlier judgment being open to the same appellate route as the later suit; the appellate decree in the earlier matter replaces the trial court decree, and the absence of a further second appeal does not prevent the adjudication from binding the parties.

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Issues: Whether a decision on the question of instalments in a former suit operates as res judicata in a later suit, even though a second appeal was barred in the former suit but was available in the later suit.

Analysis: The question was held to fall within Section 13 of the Code of Civil Procedure because the matter in issue had been directly and substantially decided between the same parties by a court competent to try the subsequent suit. The bar did not depend on the former judgment being open to appeal in the same manner as the later suit. The appellate decree in the earlier suit took the place of the trial court decree, and the absence of a further second appeal did not prevent the adjudication from operating as res judicata. The view that the two suits must be open to appeal on the same footing was rejected as unsupported by the language of the section.

Conclusion: The earlier decision on instalments operated as res judicata, and the appeal succeeded.

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