LAWS(PVC)-1942-10-53

MAHANT BISESHWAR DASS Vs. SASHINATH JHA

Decided On October 28, 1942
MAHANT BISESHWAR DASS Appellant
V/S
SASHINATH JHA Respondents

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal by the plaintiff, the present Mahant of Rampur Asthal, who is aggrieved by the decision of the learned Subordinate Judge of Muzaffarpur dated 10 May 1938 by which he dismissed his suit for recovery of possession of two properties appertaining to this asthal which were transferred by the previous mahant several years ago in the following circumstances. Rampur Asthal situated in the district of Darbhanga has considerable properties attached to it and has a subsidiary asthal known as Tajpur Asthal and a number of jhopras attached to it which are all managed by the mahant who is installed in the gaddi at Rampur Asthal according to its usage and custom. The mahants belong to Sri Ramanandi Bairagi Sampradaya.

(2.) According to the custom prevailing in this asthal succession to the gaddi on the death of the reigning mahant is hereditary from guru to chela--the eldest chela succeeds. So far as it is relevant to state for the purposes of this case we need not travel beyond the date when Mahant Narain Das was admittedly the mahant in possession of this asthal and its dependencies and appurtenances in 1902. He died in February 1903 leaving a number of chelas including Jaikaran Das and Lal Behari Das.

(3.) On the very day of the death of the mahant disputes arose between these two chelas, the former claimed to succeed to the gaddi because he was the senior chela, the latter put forward the claim to succeed1 to the mahantship on the basis of a will which was said to have been executed by Mahant Narain Das in June 1898. Both parties claimed to perform the funeral obsequies of the late mahant and a number of disputes arose between them which were carried to the criminal Courts and to the Land Registration Department as is usual in such cases Lal Behari Das also filed an application for letters of administration in the Court of the District Judge of Darbhanga in order to claim the asthal properties by virtue of the will of 1898 to which a caveat was entered by Mahant Jaikaran Das.