SUKHU Vs. SEEJA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is defendants civil second appeal & arises out of a suit instituted by plaintiffs for joint possession of half share of the suit land comprising of 156 kanals and 8 marlas situate in village mulchhattar Tehsil Kishtwar. The plaintiffs alleged that they were recorded as owners to the extent Of one -half share in the Jamabandi and claimed joint possession with the defendants. The contesting defendants resisted the suit on the ground that the plaintiffs were not owners of the land; that they had abandoned it and that the defendants were holding it adversely for more than the statutory period and, therefore, had acquired right by prescription. The trial Court of Munsiff Kishtwar dismissed the suit of the plaintiffs on the ground that they failed to prove their possession within twelve years from the date of the suit and that the defendants possession had become adverse to them. The plaintiffs appealed and the Additional District Judge reversed the finding of the trial Court in regard to the adverse possession and decreed the plaintiffs suit for joint possession. The defendants have come up in further appeal to this Court.

(2.) ON behalf of the appellants it is vehemently argued that the plaintiffs ancestors were entered as Ghair Hazir and Ghair Qabiz in the Sam -vat year 1989. It was, therefore, necessary for the plaintiffs to show that the possession of the defendants was not adverse. Our attention was drawn to the Standing Order No. 23, sub -rule 13, of R. 99, which reads as under: After a claimant has been Ghair Qabiz for 12 years, the burden of proving that the possession of the Qabiz was not adverse, shall be on that claimant

(3.) BEFORE we discuss this rule it will be necessary to deal with the Standing Order No. 23 which contains this rule. The Standing Order No. 23 contains Mutation Hidayats issued to the Revenue Officers with the sanction of His Highness the Maharaja Bahadur. Rule 99 of this Standing Order deals with mutations regarding Ghair Hazir and Ghari Qabiz. In this rule the procedure is prescribed as to how the entry in regard to Ghair Qabiz is to be made in the Revenue papers by the Revenue Officers. The person who is entered as Ghair Qabiz has a right to file a suit within one year from the date of the entry to get that entry rectified. In that suit according to sub -r. 13 Of R. 09 a person who is claiming possession from the person who is Qabiz i.e. person in possession, has to show that the possession of the Qabiz was not adverse. This is a special procedure prescribed by sub -r. 13 Of R. 99 of the Standing Order No. 23 for the guidance of the Revenue Officers which they have to follow in a suit filed before them under the Standing Order. These rules will not govern the procedure, which has to be followed in an ordinary civil suit.