THE STATE OF MADRAS, REPRESENTED BY THE COLLECTOR OF RAMANATHAPURAM Vs. SRI SATHYA BODHA SWAMY, UTHARATHI MUTT, TRUSTEE OF BRIDHAVANAM AGRAHARAM-MANAMADURAI, THROUGH HIS AUTHORISED AGENT, SRI G.V. GOPALACHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS second appeal has been preferred by the State of Madras and arises out of a final decree in a suit for rendition of accounts filed by the respondent Devasthanam. The respondent is stated to be a religious institution entitled to 14 and 3/8th share out of 36 shares in the village of Vadakuchardanoor which has been taken over by the Government under the Estates Abolition Act on 16th March 1953. The Rent Reduction Act, Madras Act XXX of 1947, had been applied to the village by a notification on 24th February, 1950. On the averment that since the notification of the village under the Rent Reduction Act the State which had been collecting Melwaram from the ryots had not paid over to the plaintiff Devasthanam the amounts payable in terms of Madras Act XXX of 1947 for Faslis 1359 and 1360, the suit came to be filed for rendition of accounts of Melwaram collections. A preliminary decree was passed in the case on 13th February, 1960. No doubt a ground has been taken before me that no decree for accounts ought to have been passed in the case, but the preliminary decree for accenting has become final and it cannot now be challenged. However, it is open, to the defendant to plead even now on the merits of their liability to account to the extent it may be done without challenging the preliminary -decree. It is unfortunate that despite several opportunities which the appellants before me high they have not beer, able to satisfy the Courts below as regards the stand taken by the with reference to the actual accounting. 'Several versions as regards the figures were given. But none of them could stand scrutiny and ultimately the decree in favour of the plaintiff is for the land cess which ought to have been collected by the State and which they pleaded they had not collected. The plaintiff claims a sum of Rs. 260 -9 -0 on the basis of Exhibit A -4 dated 30th November, 1956, a copy of the Board of Revenue proceedings on the demand and. collection for Faslis 1359 and 1360 for the village in question. This statement of accounting the collections at the reduced rates under Section 3(4) of Madras Act XXX of 1947 and. the amount payable to the landholder which was sanctified, shows the Remand for the Faslis as Rs. 571 -9 -0. The collections are shown to be Rs. 311 -0 -0. For collection charges a sum of Rs. 26 -14 -6 is deducted. A sum of Rs. 263 -13 -0 is shown as total Government dues for pieshkush, cesses, etc., to be adjusted. A sum of Rs. 10 is sanctioned for payment to the landholder. A direction is given that the Collector should collect the balance quickly. The plaintiff would contend that the balance had been collected and he is entitled to payment of the balance, whereas it is stated for the defendant that the balance was not collected. Their case is that it was wrongly included in the demand and that nothing is payable to the plaintiff. I may at once state that the case for the State that the plaintiff himself never collected cess from ryots, has not been accepted by the Courts below. So the case has to proceed on the assumption that the plaintiff as a landholder could have realised also land cess from the ryots. For the plaintiff it has been rightly pointed that if in fact the ryots had refused to pay the cess for Faslis 1359 and 1360, due intimation would have been sent by the Collector to the Board of Revenue shortly after Exhibit A -4. The absence of any record for the State to show that the ryots were not obliged to pay the cess and so the cess was hot collected, goes against the evidence on record.

(2.) THE second appeal was rested before me on two grounds (1) that the State was not bound to account for the cess when in fact they have not collected the cess; and (2) that the rent which the State could recover under the Rent Reduction Act would, not include cess.

(3.) FOR the purposes of Sections 5, 27, 28, 59 to 72, 77 to 131, 135, 136, 145 to 148, 165, 210 and 211 and the Schedule, rent includes also -