RAMCHANDRA SHIVJIRAM Vs. TAMA RAGHO MANGLYA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The plaintiff (who is respondent in this second appeal) alleged in her plaint that the salt-pan in dispute in which she had interest to the extent of one-third had been leased away during her minority to the appellants for a period of three years on a rental of Rs. 500 a year by her guardians and one Dharman, who owned the remaining two-thirds share; that, on the expiry of that period, she, having obtained the age of majority, let her interest for two years to the appellants on a rental of Rs. 1,000 a year. She sought to recover the rent of those two years at that rate and also Rs. 653 as rent due on the previous lease.

(2.) The appellants in their written statement admitted the respondent s ownership of the salt-pan and also their tenancy under her and Dharman, but they contended that they had been in possession from the beginning under a lease for five years, not three years, as alleged in the plaint.

(3.) Section 107 of the Transfer of Property Act requiring that " a lease of immoveable property from year to year, or for any ! term exceeding one year, or reserving a yearly rent, can be made only by a registered instrument ", the respondent could " not be allowed to rely on the lease set up by her, because it was not registered: Ardesir Bejonj i Surti v. Syed Sirdar Ali Khan (1908) I.L.R. 33 Bom. 610. Nor could she be allowed to give oral evidence of that lease (s. 91 of the Indian Evidence Act).