CHANDRIKA MISIR Vs. BHAIYA LAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal by special leave against the Judgment and decree of the Allahabad High Court in Second Appeal No. 2128 of 1963. The plaintiffs brought the suit against one Bhaiya Lal, the present respondent, in respect of certain Bhumidhari plots. The plots had been purchased in the name of one Markandey- the uncle of the plaintiffs. After the death of Markandey, who died without issue, the plots were recorded in the name of his widow Jagdamba. Jagdamba died in 1948. The plaintiffs as the next reversioners claimed title to the property. They alleged that the respondent was interfering with their possession and hence they prayed for a permanent injunction. In the alternative, they also asked for the relief of possession. The suit was filed on 5-9-1955.

(2.) Several pleas were taken on behalf of the defendant one of them being a plea of limitation. The courts were unanimously of the opinion that the plaintiffs, being the next heirs, had sufficient title to the property while the defendant had none whatsoever. The learned Munsif in whose court the suit was filed however, held that the suit was barred by limitation. In appeal the learned Additional Civil Judge, Varanasi, held that the plaintiffs' claim was not barred by limitation. Accordingly, possession was decreed in favour of the plaintiffs.

(3.) In second appeal the High Court found that the question of limitation could not be properly determined unless there was a specific finding on two issues one relating to the commencement of the possession of the defendant and the other to the age of plaintiff no. 1, Chandrika Misir, at the time of filing the suit. The High Court remanded these two issues to the First Appellate Court for a finding. The finding on the first issue was that the defendant took actual possession of the plots in 1951-52. The finding on the second issue was that plaintiff no. 1 Chandrika Misir was a minor when Jagdamba died in 1948 and that he attained majority in the year 1955 and not before that.