RAJARAM SITARAM POTPHODE Vs. JAGANNATH GOVINDRAO YESHWANTRAO

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The plaintiff in this case and the twelfth defendant are Khots of Mouje Kosumb in the Ratnagiri District. The defendants Nos. 1 to 11 are members of a family named Potphode. The plaintiff brought the suit which has given rise to this appeal to recover possession of lands comprised in Survey No. 269 falni No. 4, alleging that he was the owner thereof; that they formed part of his Khoti Khasgi estate; and that the Potphode defendants had unlawfully dispossessed him of the same.

(2.) The third defendant was the only party who contested this claim in the trial Court, He denied the plaintiff's title and possession as alleged, and asserted that the said lands belonged to, and were continuously enjoyed by, members of the Potphode family. He further contended that the suit lands were entered in the village Botkhat in the name of some members of his family, that the plaintiff did not get such entry reversed or modified by the decree of a competent Court within the period prescribed by law, and that therefore the entry had become binding upon the plaintiff.

(3.) The first two issues framed by the trial Court related to the questions whether the plaintiff had proved his title and his possession within the twelve years preceding the commencement of this suit. The third issue was : whether the said entry in the Botkhat was a " decision" within the meaning of Section 21 of the Khoti Settlement Act 1880, so as "to give finality against plaintiff, and what would be its effect ?"