CHANDER SINGH Vs. HAJURA SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) For convenience, parties herein are described as per recitals before learned trial Court.

(2.) Having suffered concurrent adverse findings by the two Courts below, plaintiffs are in second appeal before this Court assailing learned trial Court judgment and decree dtd. 24/12/2015, as upheld by learned First Appellate Court vide its judgment and decree dtd. 28/11/2019, dismissing the suit for declaration with consequential relief of permanent injunction filed by appellant/plaintiffs.

(3.) Briefly stated, facts as noticed by Courts below are that plaintiffs are farmers by profession and the livelihood of the plaintiffs' families depend upon the income from agriculture. Besides the suit land, plaintiffs have also other agricultural land. The uncle of plaintiffs, namely, Ram Chander vide sale deed No.1252 dtd. 25/8/1966 sold land measuring 22K-18M to one Ram Sarup for sale consideration of Rs.4,000.00. Plaintiffs challenged the said sale by filing preemption suit, which was decreed in favour of plaintiffs on 3/6/1968. The possession of the land was taken over by plaintiffs on 20/7/1968 and since then they are in possession of this entire land measuring 22K-18M. Later on, defendants filed Civil suit seeking possession of half share in land measuring 11K-18M qua the share of their mother Smt. Chooto. On dismissal of their suit, the defendants filed an appeal against the judgment and decree dtd. 5/8/1972 and the same was accepted on 9/5/1975 and their suit was decreedqua land measuring 11K-09M out of total land measuring 22K-18M which had been purchased by plaintiffs in the pre-emption suit. However, inthat suit, the defendants did not seek any declaration with regard to the ownership of suit land and setting aside the decree inpre-emption suit and never took the possession of land in favour of the plaintiffs. They (the plaintiffs) are in actual/physical possession of the suit land and they throughout continued to enjoy the possession of this land without paying any rent or profit thereof. The possession of plaintiffs from 9/5/1975 onwards till date remained exclusive in the knowledge of defendants open, continuous, uninterrupted, adverse and hostile inanimus to the interest of defendants. By virtue of this continuous and adverse possession for more than 30 years, plaintiffs have acquired the status and title of ownership qua the land and they are liable to be declared as the owners of the suit land and the entries of the ownership of this land in the revenue records are liable to be entered in the names of plaintiffs. Plaintiffs requested defendants for transferring the title of the suit land in their names but to no avail. Hence, the civil suit.