RAM CHANDRA ROY Vs. GIRISH CHANDRA PANJAH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The plaintiff brought a suit for rent in 1898 in respect of certain plots of land said to be the mal lands of their mouzah Narainpur. The defendants denied that the lands were the mal lands of the plaintiff's mahal; they denied that they were the tenants of the plaintiffs and asserted that the lands were their lakheraj. The Court held that the relationship of landlord and tenant was not made out but in arriving at that conclusion held that the lands were not the mal of the plaintiffs, but the lakheraj of the defendants. The plaintiffs brought this title suit for a declaration of their mal rights and for eviction of the defendants on the ground of their having denied the title of their landlords

(2.) The Court of first instance decreed the suit in full and the lower appellate Court confirmed the said decree with a slight modification.

(3.) The defendants appeal and on their behalf four points have been pressed upon me: (1). That the plea of limitation was expressly taken by the defendants and yet no issue was framed upon it and no decree for khas possession should have been given without trying the question of limitation. (2). That the title to the property is res judicata and should not be reopened. (3). That the denial of the landlord's title is no ground of forfeiture under the Bengal Tenancy Act. (4). That there could be no ejectment unless all the defendants can be shown or proved to have been parties to the denial and this has not been done.