ISHWAR DUTT Vs. SUNDER SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a landlords appeal in a suit brought by him for evicting the respondent under the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Tenancy Act.

(2.) THE plaintiff sought to evict the tenant on the ground that he being fixed term tenant, he was liable to be evicted after the expiry of the term fixed in the lease. The main evidence produced by the plaintiff before the trial court was the deed of lease, but as the deed of lease was unregistered, the trial court held that it was inadmissible, and as there was no material to prove that the respondent was a fixed term tenant, the suit was dismissed. On appeal, a single judge of this court upheld the decision of the trial court.

(3.) THE only point urged before us, was that both the courts below committed an error in ruling out the lease deed which though unregistered could still be used for a collateral purpose in order to prove the nature and character of the respondents possession. We were referred to several authorities on the point, that although, there is no proviso to S. 49 of the State Act, as there is in the Act which is applicable in India, yet the fact that a document which is compulsorily registrable and is not registered is still admissible for a collateral purpose.