Hari Charan Kundu vs Kaushi Charan Dey on 1 March, 1940
The Boards do not frame their awards according to the rights which may have accrued to the contracting parties under the provisions in the Contract Act or the Transfer of Property Act, but, on the other hand, they are enjoined under Section 15 to use their best endeavours to induce parties to arrive at an amicable settlement and, under Section 19 they are empowered to order the settlement of debts in accordance with offers which they may consider to be fair and reasonable. Further, under the provisions of Section 45, the ordinary principles of the Evidence Act and the Civil Procedure Code do not apply to proceedings before the Boards. Sub-section (2) of Section 16 empowers Boards to receive mere information from persons who may be present and, this being the case, it is clear that, when the Board is directed under Section 18(2) of the Act to make orders "after hearing the parties and considering the evidence produced" the expression "evidence" is used not in the sense of evidence which would be legally admissible under the provisions of the Evidence Act but as referring to any material to which the Board may think fit to refer in arriving at its decision. Further, the procedure to be observed by the Boards is not the procedure laid down by the Civil Procedure Code but is prescribed by Government under rules framed under Section 55 of the Act. It is also provided in Section 42 that "a Board shall in all proceedings under this Act, be subject to the control of the Local Government" and that the Boards may be inspected by a person appointed by the Local Government.