VENUGOPALA NAIDU Vs. PERUMAL ODAYAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These are a batch of second appeals arising out of suits filed by the mirasidars of the village of Sandankadu for ejecting the defendants from the suit lands and for recovering the rent of Faslis 1322 to 1324. The plaintiffs alleged in their plaints that the defendants cultivate the suit land as parakudies under them and failed to pay the rent. The District Munsif of Pattukottai who tried the suit decreed the plaintiffs suits for ejectment with subsequent mesne profits but disallowed the prior rent. In some of the suits there were appeals to the District Jui3ge. The District Judge of West Tanjore reversed the decrees of the District Munsif in all the appeals except six. Of the six appeals that were not reversed two abated by the death of the appellants. The other four wore dismissed on the merits. In all these six appeals there are no second appeals. In the remaining cases second appeals have been filed by the plaintiffs which are before us for disposal.

(2.) The history of the village may be shortly set forth. The village of Sandakadu was originally a mirasi village held by the mirasidars like other mirasi villages situated in the Tanjore and Chingleput Districts. The Tanjore District was annexed to the British Dominions in 1799 by a treaty with the then Rajah. Up to that date it was under the administration of its native rulers. During such administration the income derived by the ruler from the Sandankadu village was granted as an inam to his dependants by Thulaja Maharaj. The right to three-fourths share in the melwaram seems to have passed to various parties by subsequent alienations and finally it is now in the hands of the mirasidars themselves. The right to the remaining one-fourth is vested in a charity. The grant of the melwaram was regarded as an inam grant and was dealt with as such by the inam commission in 1860. Exs. WW, WW-a and WW-b are the inam statements and Ex. UU is the inam register. The register shows that there is a fixed jodi payable on the village and that it was held in 32 pangus or shares. Col. 14 shows that in 1809 three persons, Eamchandara Pant, Sub-baiyan and Venkappaiyan, each held eight shares and that the remaining eight shares were held by a chattram. The 32 pangus mentioned earlier apparently represent the shares of the melwaramdars or landlords. Subsequent alienations are also mentioned. The inam was approved and confirmed on a quit rent of Rs. 15. The total extent of the village was 666.21 acres. the poramboke was very small being only Order 1. Of the remainder (66620 acres). 655.58 acres were dry and 10 62 acres were wet. Of the dry portion 63.70 were cultivated and the whole of the remaining dry, i.e. 591.88 acres and the whole of the wet, namely, 10.62 acres, totalling 602.50 remained uncultivated.

(3.) In 1829 a paimash olungu chitta was prepared for the village. It was there described "kadarambam (forest tract) strotriem village Santhankadu village." The chitta shows that it consists of 32 shares, apparently the landlord's shares, and that it was being cultivated as samudayam (in common). This obviously refers to the cultivation by tenants. It then proceeds to describe the pangudars, i.e. persons holding the melwaram and it then proceeds to describe the cultivators and mentions four persons as owners of the kudimiras. It then proceeds to describe the various plots. Plots 1 to 3, 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 23, 25, 26, 28 and 29 are described as kudimiras samudayam. Some of these are described as actually cultivated by a particular mirasidar and some as cultivable waste.