PAIKA PADHANO Vs. PINDIKO PATRO

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an appeal from the Judgment of the Agency Subordinate Judge, Balliguda, decreeing the plaintiff's suit for realisation of 'Mamuls' from his Khond tenants for the year 1946 -47.

(2.) THE plaintiff is the Patro of Sarangado Muttah in Balliguda Taluk and the defendant are Khond tenants of village Koppaguda within the said Muttah. Defendant No. 1 is the Muttah Malik of the village and defendant No. 2 is the Paclhano of that village. These two defendants are aboriginal Khonds and according to the plaintiff it was their function to collect the Mamuls due to the plaintiff from the Khonds of the village and pay the same annually. The plaintiff's claim to the Mamul is based on long -standing custom which has been recognised in the well -known Taylor's Memoir at Appendix XIV 3. Exhibit 1 is an extract from the said Memoir relating to Sarangado Muttah from which it appears that the Oriya Patro of the Muttah was receiving the following payments from the Khonds of his Muttan: Re. 1/ - per village and a basket of rice, Madha and Budha of Rs. 5/ -. Khond adulterer Rs. 3/ -, Khond adulteress Rs. 2/ -, of this Rs. 2/ - goes to the Uriyas. If a Khond leaves no son Rs. 10/ -, of which Rs. 3/ - goes to the Uriyas, If not heirs all the property goes to the Patro,' Taylor's Memoir was printed in 1902 and some of the payments to the Patro as recognised in the said Memoir are now obsolete. The plaintiff stated that in recent times the Revenue Commissioner of Orissa had explained to the Khonds that they need pay to the Patro only cash of Re. 1/ - and a basket of rice per village and no other Mamuls. The learned Agency Subordinate Judge decreed the plaintiff's suit holding that a basket of rice was worth Rs. 10/ - in the year 1946 -47.

(3.) IT is, therefore, necessary to examine the history of the Mamuls and their precise legal significance. Sarangado is one of the Muttahs in the Ganjam Agency tracts inhabited mainly by aboriginal Khonds. The Muttah -head who is usually known as the Patro is however an Oriya Chief. Formerly, these tracts formed part of Chinnaki -medi Maliahs which were under the control of the zamindar of Chinnakimedi to whom the Patros used to pay annual tributes or Nasur, In 1872, Government resumed the Maliahs from the zamin -dar of Chinnakimedi and the Patros then began paying Nuzur direct to the Government. As regards the origin of these Patros, Taylor in his Memoir in paragraph 6 at page 2 says as follows :