NANDA MOHARANA Vs. LAKSHMAN MOHARANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) PLAINTIFF is the petitioner. The original suit was filed for recovery of rent and in the alternative for recovery of damages. The circumstances in which the relief was sought may be stated in brief. Plaintiff claims title to the disputed house and pleaded that defendants were tenants. He filed an application for eviction of the defendants before the House Rent Controller. That application was rejected on the finding that relationship of landlord and tenant was not established and that the house Rent Controller had no jurisdiction to entertain the application for eviction. Therefore, the plaintiff filed the present suit for recovery of rent, end as the relationship of landlord and tenant was not established in the alternative for recovery of damages on the footing that the defendants are in unauthorised occupation of the plaintiff's house. The defendants filed a written statement asserting that the plaintiff had no title to the disputed house and that the suit for recovery of damages was not maintainable without the plaintiff getting a declaration of his title. The plaintiff filed an amendment application with averments that paragraph 9 of the plaint be substituted by the following paragraph:-

(2.) EVEN in the suit as it was, the main contest of the parties would be whether the plaintiff had title to the suit-house. Before granting a decree for recovery of damages, the learned Munsif was called upon to decide whether plaintiff had title to the disputed property and whether he had still a subsisting title so as to be entitled to recovery of possession and damages. By the amendment nothing more is asked than a prayer for declaration of title and recovery of possession which the plaintiff should have done from the beginning. In the peculiar facts of this case the nature of the suit is not changed. Only there is a difference in the relief sought. On the identical material facts pleaded in the plaint, from the very start the plaintiff could have asked for the reliefs of declaration of title and recovery of possession besides the relief of recovery of damages. That being the position, allowing the amendment would not change the nature of the suit. The amendment must accordingly be allowed.

(3.) IN the result, the order dated 3-8-1971, passed by the learned Munsif is set aside and the Civil Revision is allowed. In the circumstances, there will be no order as to costs,