RANA UTTAM SINGH, ETC Vs. KIDAR NATH, ETC

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This controversy arises out of a scramble for the possession of certain streams passing through village Kaniara of the Kangra District.

(2.) The history of this case goes back to the year 1867 when certain zamindars of village Kaniara of the Kangra District executed a deed by virtue of which they transferred all their rights over all slate and other quarries or mines within the limits of the village to one Mr. Shaw in lieu of a promise on the part of the latter to pay annually a sum of Rs. 1,700/- towards the Government and other revenues payable by the village. Mr. Shaw promptly set up a concern known as the Kangra Valley Slate Company which started removing slates from quarries and mines in respect of which the lease was granted. In or about the year 1919 the Company extended its operations to areas beyond the limits of the area for which the lease had been granted, and in the year 1928 the zamindars brought a suit for ejectment of the Company and for the issue of a permanent injunction restraining it from the exclusive use and possession of the area in suit against the will and consent of the proprietary body. The Senior Sub-Judge decreed the plaintiffs' claim but the parties came to a compromise in the High Court and it was agreed that the terms of the lease would be binding on the parties on condition that in future the Company would pay the entire land revenue and cesses of the village instead of a sum of Rs. 1,700/- only which was specified in the original deed.

(3.) In the year 1945 the zamindars formed themselves into a Co-operative Society known as the Kaniara Forest Society under the aegis of the Forest Department. On the 26th May, 1952 the Society auctioned the surface stones of naddi nullahs to one Devi Singh for Rs. 8,100/- and issued a permit authorising the purchaser to remove the stones. Devi Singh commenced removing surface stones from the beds of streams on the 16th June and continued to do so till the 21st June when the Forest Department cancelled the permit. Taking advantage of the situation which had arisen the Company sent a number of its employees to a stream in the village and on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th July they started removing surface stones from the bed thereof. The Society promptly issued notices to these employees requiring them to discontinue these operations on pain of criminal proceedings being initiated against them. The Conservator of Forests who was called upon to resolve the disputes which had arisen between the parties expressed the view that the terms of the wajib-ul-arz appeared to confer a complete right on the Company to remove slates whether they were found above or below the surface of the soil and on the 26th August he issued a provisional order authorising the Company to continue its work of removing stones from the streams until such time as the matter was decided by the State Government. A struggle for possession now ensued and each of the contesting parties endeavoured to steal a march over its opponent by endeavouring to obtain a foothold on the coveted property.