DATTATRAYA PANDURANG GOSAVI Vs. LAKSHMAN MAHADEV POHEKAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In the year 1790 A. D. the village of Takli in the Ahmednagar District was granted by the Holkar Darbar by a Sanad to Bhanudas, the great-grandfather of the plaintiffs and his brother Eknath. The property descended to the male issue of the grantees and ultimately to Manohar and Eknath uncles of the plaintiffs who are the sons of Eknath's sister. From the year 1875 the Inamdars had been mortgaging the inam to various persons and ultimately by a decree of the High Court the right of Eknath to redeem the property, Manohar being dead, was declared to be foreclosed.

(2.) The present suit was brought by the plaintiffs, the nephews of Eknath, for a declaration that the inam being for religious and charitable purposes is inalienable and consequently the mortgagees were not entitled to deprive the Inamdars of it. Eknath was defendant No. 5 in the suit as he did not join as plaintiff. He has since died.

(3.) The prayers of the plaintiffs were for a declaration to the effect that the income of the village of Takli is not liable to be mortgaged by Manohar and Eknath for their personal debts and that no property in the said income of the village has passed by the foreclosure decree of the High Court passed on April 13, 1917; that the mortgage transactions in favour of defendants Nos. 1 to 3 may be declared to be void and no longer binding on the religious endowment created by the Inam Patra in connection with the village of Takli and for an injunction against defendants Nos. 1 to 3 for preventing them from claiming any income of the said village from defendant No. 4, the Collector, in virtue of the said foreclosure decree and that defendant No. 4 should be directed to pay the income of the Dumala village of Khare Takli to the plaintiffs and their heirs and successors. The defendants in the suit were the mortgagees, the Collector of Ahmednagar and Eknath, who did not join as a plaintiff.