SRIMAT PRATIVADI BHAYANKARAM GOPALA KRISHNAMACHARY Vs. SRI RAJA KANDIMALLA SEETHARAMARAO BAHADUR ZAMINDAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal preferred against the decision of the Estates Abolition Tribunal (The District Judge) West Godavari Eluru on the petition filed by creditors under sections 42, 44(1) and 46 of the Estates (Abolition and Convertion into Ryotwari) Act 1948 (Act No. XXVI of 1948) hereinafter to be referred to as the Act.

(2.) The brief facts are the following: The appellant's family, which will be referred to as the petitioner's family originally owned an agraharam known as Vedantapuram Agraharm. The petitioners and their ancestors were the Gurus of Kandimalla family, Zamindars of Aswaraopet. By and under a registered sale deed dated 1-3-1917 (Ex. A-1) the petitioners' prodecessors-in-interest sold the said Agraharam to the Zamindarini, Khandimalla Lakshmi Kanthamnaa Garu, the paternal grandmother of the respondents, The Sale deed provided for a consideration of Rs. 40,000/- in cash and payment of Rs. 600/- per year to the Agraharamiars and to their successors-in-interest in perpetuity. A charge was created on the Agraharam which was the subject matter of sale, under a registered charge deed, Ex. A-2. There is no controversy that the payments were made upto 1950. The Agraharam itself was taken over under the Act in April, 1958. The petitioners instituted proceedings by O.P. 55 of 1959 before the Estates Abolition Tribunal seeking various reliefs. The main reliefs prayed for were: that they should be awarded a sum of Rs. 6,500/- (inclusive of interest at 12% per annum) as arrears of annuity payments for the period from 1951 to 1957 and a sum of Rs. 18,000/- being the capitalised value of the future annuity payments payable at 30 times the annuity and other incidental reliefs.

(3.) In this appeal we are concerned with the claim of Rs. 18,000/- as the Estates Abolition Tribunal expressed its view that 20 times the annuity would be reasonable compensation in lieu of annuity and granted Rs. 12,000/-.