KASINATH KOOWAR Vs. BANKUBEHARI CHOWDHRY AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this case it appears that on the 6th of Baisakh 1198 B.S. (1791) an arrangement was made between the Maharaja of Burdwan and one Ram Narayan Chowdhry, through whom the defendants claim, for an exchange of two pieces of land, one comprising 175 bigas held as dewatar lakhiraj in Mauza Kinduli; the other comprising 441 bigas of mal lands in Mauza, Gurbari. What was intended by this transaction I take to be this, that the 175 bigas which were formerly lakhiraj of Kinduli should cease to be so, and the 441 bigas which were formerly mal of Gurbari should become lakhiraj, the result as regards the revenue being the same, inasmuch as the collections of the two plots were the same, namely, rupees 500. Subsequently the Maharaja fell into arrears of revenue in respect of the Taraff Manteswar and a portion thereof, the Huda of Mukondpore, comprising the Mauza Gurbari in which 441 bigas are situate, was sold by the Government to one Gattinath Roy, who on the 26th Magh, 1201, sold to Ram Narayan Chowdhry 10 of the mauzas situate in this Huda, including Gurbari.

(2.) In the year 1834 the Government, at the instance of an informer, took proceedings to resume 550 bigas of land, including the 441 bigas now in dispute. The Collector of Hoogly dismissed the claim of the Government, being of opinion that though the exchange having been made subsequently to 1st December 1790 was invalid so far as it attempted to create a lakhiraj by reasons of the provisions of section 10, Regulation XIX of 1793, yet that under those provisions only the zamindar, and not the Government, was entitled to resume.

(3.) How, or at what date, the zamindari rights in respect of Gurbari passed out of the hauls of the ancestors of the defendants does not appear; but it appears that at some time prior to 1867, three persons, namely Mangobind, Gopikrishna Ghose, and Iswar Chandra Ghose, had been recorded in the Collector's books as proprietors of Gurbari. These parsons being owners of specific portions of Gurbari, applied to the Collector, under section 11 of Act XI of 1859, and the Collector opened separate accounts with each of them for the revenue of their respective shares.