SUKHBASI LAL Vs. DURJAN SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a plaintiff's second appeal against a decision of the Additional Civil Judge of Farrukhabad dismissing his suit for possession of a house and the land surrounding it which has been described as a sahan. The plaintiff Sukh Basi Lal alleged in his plaint that he is the owner of the house situate in the abadi of the village Pipergaori in the district of Farrukhabad, that this house was let out to the defendant Durjan Singh on rent, that the defendant was asked to vacate the house but refused to do so; hence the suit.

(2.) The defendant contested it and denied that he was a tenant, though he admitted that the plaintiff is the owner of the property in dispute. He alleged that about 35 years ago he built the house on the site of a Khandhal with the permission of the plaintiff who had allowed him to live in it ewer since. The defendant pleaded that as he had constructed the house at his own expense he was a licences whose licence was protected by Section 60 of the Easements Act and irrevocable.

(3.) The trial court believed the plaintiff's version and held that the defendant was a tenant; consequently it passed the decree against the tenant and for damages. On appeal the learned Judge took a contrary view of the evidence and rejected the plaintiff's case about the tenancy as false and believed the defendant that he had been permitted by the plaintiff to construct the house on the plaintiff's khandahal about 35 years prior to the suit and had been living in it ever since. Accordingly, it held that the defendant was protected by Section 60 of the Easements Act and dismissed the plaintiff's suit in toto. The learned Judge also held that the suit was barred by limitation. The plaintiff has now come to this Court in second appeal.