BHIMESHWARA SWAMI VARU TEMPLE Vs. PEDAPUDI KRISHNA MURTHI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant, Sri Bhimeshwara Swami Varu Temple, brought a suit in the court of the Subordinate Judge, Eluru, for a declaration that the properties described in Schedules A and B of the plaint were Devadayam lands belonging to it and for possession of the same after ejecting the respondents. The learned trial Judge decreed the suit in respect of items 1 to 3 of Schedule B only. This decree was set aside by the High Court which remanded the matter for a fresh trial. After remand the trial court decreed the suit except in regard to items 1 and 2 of Schedule A.

(2.) The decree for the trial court was confirmed in appeal by a learned single Judge of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh. Letters Patent Appeal 71 of 1966 filed by the plaintiff against that Judgment was dismissed in limine by a Division Bench of the High Court on December 6, 1966. This appeal is filed by the plaintiff by special leave restricted to item No. 2 of Schedule A of the plaint.

(3.) The case of the appellant is that the suit lands are Devadayam inam lands which were granted to the Deity and that the Archakas were mismanaging the lands and misappropriating the income received therefrom. Defendants 1 to 7 are the archakas while defendants 8 to 39 are the tenants and alienees who claim under the archakas. The defence of the Archakas is that the lands did not belong to the temple but belonged to them and that they were in uninterrupted possession of the lands in their own right for about 100 years.