ASUTOSH PRAMANIK Vs. JIBANDHAN GANGULY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) (S.A. No. 729 of 1931).-This is an appeal in a suit for ejectment after service of notice to quit. The father of defendant 1 held the land in suit under a registered lease for nine years, and, on the expiry of the term of the lease, was holding over till his death. The defendant, after the demise of his father, has been in possession as a lessee, on payment of rent. The ground on which defendant 1 was sought to be ejected was that he had, in contravention of the term of the lease, cut down trees standing on the land. The claim for eviction as made by the plaintiff was resisted by defendant 1 whose defence, so far as we are concerned with the same in this appeal, was that his father had acquired the right of occupancy in the land in suit, and that the claim for eviction was not maintainable. The Courts below have decided all the questions arising for consideration in the case, as indicated by the various issues raised in the trial Court against defendant 1 and the defendant has appealed to this Court.

(2.) The main questions on which the decision of this appeal turns are, whether the Bengal Tenancy Act governs the tenancy created by the kabuliat executed by the father of defendant 1 in respect of the land in suit; was the purpose of the lease agricultural, as has been contended for by the defendant? Had defendant 1 acquired the right to cultivate the land by virtue of the lease executed by him? The decisions of these points depend upon the construction of the kabuliat executed by the father of defendant 1 in favour of Sm. Basanta Kumari Debi, in the year 1319, B.S., Ex. 2 in the case. The document has been placed before us; and almost every word contained in the same has been commented upon by the learned advocates appearing for the parties in this appeal. On a careful consideration of the terms of the kabuliat, it appears to us to be clear that the land in suit was leased out to the defendant's father, in order to enable him to live on a part of the same, which was garden land, with trees standing thereon, a list of trees standing on the land leased out, was specifically given in a schedule appended to the kabuliat. The lessee was required to take care not to injure the trees in plucking the fruits therefrom. There was a definite stipulation to the effect that if the tenant in any way injured the orchard, the tenant was liable to eviction, even within the period mentioned in the lease. There was a provision for raising crops, contained in the kabuliat- whatever that might mean-but the purpose of the lease was appropriation of fruits of the trees standing on the land, which was garden land. The clause relating to eviction on the trees being injured, and the special provision against cutting down trees, completely negatives the idea of the land leased out being agricultural, and the term of the lease made the use of the land for agricultural purposes impossible.

(3.) The Court of appeal below has held on a construction of the kabuliat, that the father of the defendant acquired the tenancy for residential purposes coupled with the right to gather the fruits and fish reared in the tank, standing on the land; and we are in agreement with that Court in coming to the conclusion, that the tenancy created by the kabuliat executed by the father of defendant 1 was not a tenancy for agricultural or horticultural purposes.