GAURISHANKARJI Vs. RADHA GOBIND SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal from a judgment and decree of the Additional District Judge of Purulia, dated the 7th August 1950, decreeing the plaintiff's suit and thus reversing a decision of the Additional Subordinate Judge of Purulia, dated the 11th September 1948, by which the suit had been dismissed.

(2.) The defendants are the appellants. The plaintiff is mukarraridar of village Kapali. He had granted a darmukarrari lease to Ramdasji, the father of the defendants, by executing a deed on the 22nd December 1918, with respect to 2100 bighas odd of land at an annual rental of Rs. 530/- besides cess. It is the plaintiff's ease that the defendants have been contravening certain terms of the darmukarrari lease. The suit was, therefore, brought for a declaration that the defendants have no right to the mines, minerals and sub-soil in the lands given in darmukarrari, and for the issue of a permanent injunction restraining them from manufacturing bricks and making brick kilns and Erne kilns on the land for commercial purposes and from taking away stones, moram etc., by removing the same and selling them. There was a further claim for damages in respect of the bricks, stone chips, etc., already removed from the land and sold.

(3.) The defendants' case was that in their darmukarrari lease, there is an express grant made to the effect that they have the unrestricted right of manufacturing bricks and preparing brick kilns, lime kilns etc., for commercial purposes. They alleged that they had been preparing bricks in this manner since 1919, and had been selling them to the Tatas. They also claimed a right to collect stones, moram etc. and to work the same by quarries and to appropriate them.