TRUSTEES, CHOKKANATHASWAMI TEMPLE Vs. POOVANNA NAVANNA VADIVELMURUGA NADAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The plaintiff is the trustee for the time being of Chokkanathaswami temple, Virudunagar. The defendant is a raiyat holding two parcels of land, namely, (1) pymash Nos. 90 and 91 and (2) pymash No. 207 under a patta No. 225 in the village of Allampatti. He put up a building on pymash Nos. 90 and 91 and thereupon the plaintiff instituted this suit praying for two reliefs : (a) To direct the defendant to remove the building which the defendant unlawfully put up as being prejudicial to agricultural operations on the land and to render it fit for cultivation and (b) in case the defendant does not do so, to evict the defendant from the land. The extent built upon is 7 cents and the total area of the land included in the patta is about 56 cents. The Sub-Collector of Sivakasi who tried the suit found that the land by reason of the defendant's act became uncultivable and was rendered substantially unfit for agricultural purposes. He held that money compensation under Section 152 would be adequate and decreed Rs. 50 and an annual payment of six times the present annual rent as fair compensation. On appeal the learned District Judge dismissed the plaintiff's suit holding that the suit as laid is not maintainable on the ground that the suit for ejectment for a part of the holding does not lie. Two contentions have been urged before me by Mr. S. Ramaswami Iyer for the plaintiff- appellant, namely (1) Section 151 read with Section 9, Madras Estates Land Act, contemplates a suit for ejectment from a part of the holding, at any rate, in cases where the holding consists of distinct parcels of land; and (2) in any event the suit should not have been dismissed and the claim for injunction should have been allowed. Before examining the soundness of the contentions and the various decisions relied on, it is necessary to advert to the relevant provisions of the Act bearing on the matter. Section 3, Clause (3) of the Act defines a holding thus: Holding means a parcel or parcels of land held under a single patta or engagement in a. single village.

(2.) The proviso to this clause runs thus : Provided that if the landholder and raiyat so agree in writing, any portion of a holding as above defined shall be treated as a separate holding.

(3.) As I understand the proviso though a parcel of land is held along with other parcels of land under a single patta, yet for convenience or some other reason the landholder and raiyat may agree to treat that parcel, a portion of the holding, as a separate holding while it still continues as a part of the original holding. It will be a separate holding and not a new holding . Section 9 of the Act provides: No landholder shall as such be entitled to eject a raiyat from his holding or any part thereof otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Act.