MT SAROOR FATIMA Vs. CHAUDHURY SHEIKH MOHAMMAD SAFIUDDIN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an application under Section 25, Provincial Small Cause Courts Act, by defendant 4 in the suit. The plaintiffs claimed Rs. 25-2-5 from defendant 4, the present petitioner, Rs. 54-14-4 from opposite party, Nos. 11 and 12, Rs. 18-8-8 from No. 13 and Rs. 14-4-0 from defendant 14, on the allegation that they had paid their share of the revenue, but finding that the defendants were defaulting payment of their shares, the entire amount of the revenue was paid by them and therefore they claimed contribution.

(2.) Mr. Syed Ali Khan, appearing on behalf of the petitioner, urges that the suit was not cognizable by the Court of Small Causes in view of the provisions of Art. 41, Schedule 2, Provincial Small Cause Courts Act. Art. 41 runs as follows: A suit for contribution by a sharer in joint property in respect of a payment made by him of money due from a cosharer or by a manager of joint property or a member of an undivided family in respect of a demand made by him on account of the property or family.

(3.) Schedule 2 details the class of suits exempted from the cognizance of a Court of Small Causes, and from the wordings of Art. 41, quoted above, it is quite clear that the present suit, being one for contribution by a sharer in joint property in respect of a payment made, was not maintainable in a Court of Small Causes. Mr. Rai Indra Bihari Saran, appearing on behalf of the opposite party has referred to the nature of the enjoyment of their respective rights by the cosharers. On this point it is better to refer to the plaint itself with regard to the position taken up by the plaintiffs. The very first paragraph of the plaint begins as follows: The 16 annas mauza Karisath, pergana and thana Arrah, thana No, 327, tauzi No. 6871, constitutes the proprietary interest of the plaintiffs and the defendants. The names of the plaintiffs and defendants 1, 3 and 4 stand recorded in the Land Registration Department....