KRISHNA SINGH Vs. MATHURA AHIR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In order to dispose of the CMP in question, it may be necessary to give a brief re'sume' of the facts leading to this petition.

(2.) The dispute relates to the property in question which is house No. C-27/33 situate in Mohalla Jagatganj, Varanasi and has now been found by all the courts, including this Court, to belong to Garwaghat Math being constituted an endowment to the Math itself by its owner Guru Atma Vivekanand. In fact, Guru Atma Vivekanand was the father of Sri Krishna Singh and in the suit which was filed, Sri Krishna Singh admitted the fact that his father had become a Sanyasi. Sri Krishna Singh therefore knew very well that his father having taken Sanyas, he died a civil death and the question of inheriting his property or laying any semblance of any title over it did not arise and yet he chose to resist the suit filed by the plaintiff. It appears that in view of the fact that Sri Krishna Singh refused to deliver possession to the Math, Mathura Ahir (later known as Harswanand and who was duly installed as Mahant according to the tenets of Sant Mat) brought a suit for recovery of possession of the house in question from the possession of Sri Krishna Singh who was a trespasser and was asserting rights adverse to the Math. This suit for declaration of title and recovery of possession was decreed by the trial court of learned Munsif, Varanasi. The defence taken by Sri Krishna Singh was rejected. In appeal, the Civil Judge modified the decree of the Munsiff but on further appeal to the High Court, the decree of the Munsiff was restored as a result of which the plaintiff's suit for possession was decreed.

(3.) Sri Krishna Singh then filed an appeal by special leave to this Court and that appeal, which was numbered as C. A. 1802/1971 was decided by us on Dec. 21, 1979: (reported in AIR 1980 SC 707) and we affirmed the findings of the High Court and clearly held that the property in question belonged to the Math and that Sri Krishna Singh was a rank trespasser. In fact, this Court referred to the evidence of Sri Krishna Singh himself where he admitted that his father had become a Sadhu and had taken Sanyas. Thus, on his own showing Sri Krishna Singh's father had become a Sadhu and in the eye of law he died a civil death and therefore Sri Krishna Singh could not put forward any title to this property. In this connection, this Court while rejecting the finding of the Civil Judge observed as follows :