(1.) This is an appeal by the defendants in a suit for recovery of arrears of rent on the basis of a kabuliyat executed by their predecessor on the 28 February 1913. The Trial Court held that the kabuliyat was not operative and that rent was recoverable only at the rate mentioned in a Settlement Record prepared under Section 112 of the Bengal Tenancy Act. The Court of Appeal below has held that the kabuliyat was operative inasmuch as the Settlement Record had been prepared without jurisdiction. The substantial question in controversy is, which of these conflicting views is correct.
(2.) Section 112 of the Bengal Tenancy Act provides as follows: (1) The Local Government, with the previous sanction of the Governor-General in Council, may, on being satisfied that the exercise of the powers hereinafter mentioned is necessary in the interests of public order or of the local welfare, or that any landlord is demanding rents which have been illegally enhanced above those entered as payable in a Record of Rights prepared under this Chapter, invest a Revenue Officer with the following powers or either of them, namely: (a) power to settle all rents; (b) power, when settling rents, to reduce rents if, in the opinion of the officer, the maintenance of existing rents would on, any ground, whether specified in this Act or not, be unfair or inequitable. (2) The powers given under this section may be made exercisable within a specified area either generally or with reference to specified cases or classes of cases. (2a) A settlement of rents under this section shall be made in the manner provided by Secs.104 to 104-J (both inclusive). (3) When the Local Government takes any action under this section, the Settlement Record prepared by the Revenue Officer shall not take effect until it has been finally confirmed by the Governor-General in Council; and the revision, by direction of the Board of Revenue under Sub-section (2) of Section 104G, of a Record of Rights,...prepared under this section, shall be subject to a like confirmation by the Governor-General in Council.
(3.) In exercise of the powers conferral by this section, the following Notification Was published in the Calcutta Gazette on the 28 August 1912 (part I, p. 1389).