ROSHAN LAL AND ORS. Vs. RATTO

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS regular second appeal is confined to the claim of the plaintiff - respondent qua house measuring 27' x 10' double storeyed having slate roof consisting of three rooms in the lower storey and three rooms in the upper storey situate in khata No. 198 min, khatauni No. 412 min, khasra Nos. 1753 and 1754 situated in Mahal Bhadgwar, Tehsil Palampur, District Kangra. The other reliefs have been denied by the learned trial court as also the first appellate court and have since attained finality.

(2.) THE appeal was admitted on 5.9.2002, on the following substantial questions of law: -

(3.) BEFORE adverting to the other evidence on record, it would be relevant to notice here that the house in fact had been built by one Sohan Lal, the father of the parties on the land belonging to Jai Chand, who filed a suit against Sohan Lal in the year 1946 for possession of the land. The suit was decreed in the year 1947 and the court passed the decree for possession in favour of Jai Chand and against the defendants which included Sohan Lal, Ratti Ram, Ram Ditta as defendants No. 1 to 3. The defendants No. 2 and 3 did not contest the suit. In terms of the decree, defendant Sohan Lal was given three months' time from the date of decree to remove his material from the land failing which the plaintiff was to be entitled to obtain the possession of the land by demolition of the house and structure of defendant in accordance with law. This judgement is Ex. D -3. Sohan Lal defendant is stated to have not removed the house as well as the material from the land within the stipulated period in order to save the house of being demolished, as the plaintiff had claimed to have purchased the same vide sale deed Ex. PW 3/A. These facts in fact find mentioned in the sale deed Ex. PW 3/A. After this, the land on which the house existed was purchased by the present defendant through sale deed Ex. P -3 in the year 1956 and thus the plaintiff, who had purchased the material of the house from Jai Chand, also became co -owner of the land underneath it with his brothers defendants.