SARABJIT SINGH Vs. RAJ KUMAR RAI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The dispute in this appeal relates to certain plots of land, situated in the village Nemi Amna, Pargana Sylhet, The plaintiffs are some of the co-sharers of that village. The defendants are also co-sharers in the same village.

(2.) In the year 1898, the said village was partitioned by the Government and lots were prepared by virtue of which the plots in dispute were allotted to the mahal to which the predecessors in title of both the parties belonged. The allegation of the plaintiffs was that after the said partition the plots in question had been in the joint khudkasht cultivation of the predecessors of the parties, and that the predecessors in title of the plaintiffs and the defendants jointly cultivated the said plots till 1318 Fasli. It was also stated that after the said year a person named Thagai was put in cultivatory possession of the said plots on behalf of the above parties; that he continued in cultivation till 1321 Fasli, and that the plaintiffs thereafter resumed possession. The plaintiffs further said that after Thagai had surrendered his possession, the plaintiffs cultivated the disputed land, and that the defendants wrongfully cut the crops standing thereon. They, therefore, sued for possession of the said plots and damages.

(3.) The defendants denied that the disputed plots were the khudkasht land of the plaintiffs. They said that the land in question had been in the exclusive possession of the defendants; that Thagai was their tenant and had a right to surrender possession to them and that the plaintiffs were not entitled either to a decree for possession or to damages.