FARZAND Vs. MOHAN SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS petition under Art. 226 of the Constitution seeks an information in the nature of quo warranto requiring Mohan Singh, Munsif, Banda, respondent 1, to show cause by what authority he is holding the office of Munsif.

(2.) THE petitioner is one of the defendants to a suit for specific performance of a contract of sale instituted by respondents 2 and 3 against the petitioner who is alleged to be a subsequent purchaser and respondent 4, the vendor. The suit was filed on 6 August, 1966, and is pending before Mohan Singh, Munsif, respondent 1. Mohan Singh was appointed as a temporary Munsif on 1 March, 1961 under the Uttar Pradesh civil Service (Judicial Branch) Rules, 1951.

(3.) BEFORE dealing with the various submissions on their merits, it may be observed that the learned counsel for the petitioner was not right in arguing the case on the basis that the entire burden to establish the validity of his appointment lay on the shoulders of the respondents. The true legal position is that in a quo warranto proceeding the petitioner has to establish the claimed invalidity and then alone can the respondents be required to answer the grounds made by the petitioner.