JIWAN SINGH Vs. KUAR REOTI SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The suit, which has given rise to this second appeal, was for a declaration that an ex parte decree in suit No. 11 of 1922 in re, Raja Jiwan Singh, plaintiff v. Kunwar Tara Singh and Ors. defendants passed by the revenue Court on 3rd February 1923 was vitiated by fraud and that the entire proceedings consequent upon the said decree were void, ineffectual and not binding upon the plaintiffs.

(2.) There is a small estate in the district of Mainpuri known as Eka Raj which is held by the defendant appellant as Raja and Gaddi Nashin. The plaintiffs and defendants 1, 2 and 3 and the husbands of defendants 4 and 5 are descended from a common ancestor. Raja Jiwan Singh, a defendant 1, who is the appellant in this Court is the accredited head of the family. The junior members of the family received from generation to generation either some cash allowance or some property for their maintenance. In pursuance of this custom the plaintiffs and their father Kunwar Har Govind Singh and defendants 2 and 3 and the husband of defendant 4 had received from the Raj a hamlet called Nagla Rajpur for their maintenance. The names of the maintenance holders were originally entered in the khewat but in recent years their names have been removed from the khewat and have been entered in the jamabandi and they have been paying Rs. 590 as rent for the land in Nagla Rajpur which is in their occupation. The area of this land is about 658 acres.

(3.) In 1922, Raja Jiwan Singh instituted a suit against Har Govind Singh, father of the plaintiffs, Kunwar Tara Singh, Kunwar Sheobaran Sihgh and Mt Bhawani Kuar for arrears of rent. The defendants did not contest the suit and an ex parte decree was passed on 3 February 1923. The judgment-debtors having failed to pay the decretal amount, proceedings were initiated under Section 59, Agra Tenancy Act with the result that they were ejected from the holding and the decree-holder obtained formal possession on 31 December 1923.