R S RAMDAS Vs. KRISHNAN NAIR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Defendants 3 to 5, the legal representative of the first defendant are the appellants.

(2.) When the plaintiff was a minor, his grandmother and mother acting as guardian entrusted the plaint property, about 54 cents of land, to one Chockalingam Pillai for the construction of a Cinema Theatre on 19-11-1947 (Ext. B1). The rights of Chockalingam Pillai became vested in the 1st defendant and now have devolved on defendants 3 to 5 after his death. The plaintiff contends that the transaction is not a lease, but only a licence. He therefore filed the suit for a direction that he be permitted to deposit Rs. 51,309/-, the value of the theatre payable to the 1st defendant and then allow him to be in exclusive possession of the property and for other reliefs;

(3.) The first defendant resisted the claim contending that the transaction was a lease of land for a commercial purpose, the lessee constructed a Cinema Theatre for such commercial purpose and therefore is entitled to the protection under S.106 of Act 1 of 1964. There was also a further contention that the land was registered as Sree Pandaravaka land in the revenue records and the plaintiff's rights, if any, have been lost by orders passed under the Sree Pandaravaka Lands (Vesting and Enfranchisement) Act, 1971, Act 20 of 1971.