BECHU SINGH Vs. KAMAKHYA NARAIN SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal from a judgment and decree, dated 4 December 1928, of the High Court at Patna, which reversed a decree, dated 25 May 1926, of the Judicial Commissioner of Chota Nagpur, and restored a decree, dated 14 April 1924, of the Subordinate Judge of Hazaribagh. The sole question for determination in this appeal is whether the defendants-appellants are raiyats having a right of occupancy within the meaning of the Chota Nagpur Tenancy Act, 1908, in a village forming part of the Ramgarh estate situated in Hazaribagh.

(2.) The suit out of which this appeal arises was instituted by the plaintiff-respondent, who is the proprietor of the estate, against the defendants in March 1923, to recover possession of the village. The village contains about 212 acres. The ground of the plaintiff's claim was that the defendants were tenants from year to year and they were liable to be ejected after due notice and that such notice was given. The defendants by their written statement pleaded that the land was first reclaimed from jungle and brought into cultivation by the ancestors of Ramnath Singh, the maternal grandfather of defendant 1, and that it descended in due course to Ramnath Singh. They alleged that Ramnath Singh was assisted in the cultivation and management of the village by Deodutt Singh, the father of defendant 1, and that on the death of Ramnath Singh defendant 1 succeeded to the village as his heir under the Hindu law. They further alleged that after the death of Ramnath Singh, Deodutt Singh supervised the cultivation of the village on behalf of defendant 1, who was then a minor, and they claimed that they and their predecessors-in-title had held the land as raiyats and acquired a right of occupancy therein. Defendant 2 is the son of defendant 1.

(3.) Particulars of the land claimed by the defendants are given in five schedules annexed to the written statement. Sch. A comprises about 68.81 acres of land which was under their own cultivation. Sch. B contains land which was in the possession of under-tenants. The rest of the land is described in Schs. C, D and E. The earliest document on the record is a patta dated 21 February 1857, granted by Munshi Roshan Lal who then held the village as a jagir from the then zamindar. By this putta the village was given in "thika ijara" to Ramnath Singh for a term of ten years "with the details that in 1914 Sambat (1857 A.D) he will have 25 bighas land and 9 mahua trees at an annual rental of Rs. 12-8-0 in company's coin, and from 1915 to 1923 Sambat (1858-1866 A. D.) he will have the entire mauza including uthati (culturable) and fallow lands within the boundaries of the said mauza at an annual rental of Rs. 106-4-0 in company's coin."