HARGOVIND SINGH Vs. COLLECTOR OF ETAH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal arises out of a suit for possession of 52 villages known as the Rajaur Raj. Ten of these villages have been acquired in recent times, but the parent estate is admittedly very ancient; in fact it is alleged in the plaint that it goes back to the time of Maharaja Prithvi Raj, the last Hindu King of Delhi. Whether this be so or not there can be no doubt that it is a very old estate, its origin being lost in antiquity. There is a pedigree at p. 132 of our paper book, and there is no dispute in this Court as regards its accuracy. It will be seen that one of the holders of the estate was Raja Umrao Singh, who had four sons, Dat Singh, Tej Singh, Mohan Singh and Stub Singh. Dat Singh admittedly succeeded to the gaddi on the death of his father and became the Baja. Raja Dat Singh entered into an engagement under Regulation No. 25 of 1803 for payment of revenue at the rate of Rs. 9,160 per annum. In 1815 Raja Dat Singh defaulted in a sum of Rs. 5,000 and the estate was sold. Apparently there were no bidders and so Government bought the estate itself; but in 1818, for reasons which we will deal with later on, Government restored the estate to Raja Dat Singh. There was a surplus of revenue for the intervening years which amounted to Rs. 3,764-2-1, and it was directed that this should be handed over to Raja Dat Singh. Rs. 2,120- 0-9 were made over to him, but he died before the balance of Rs. 1,644-1-4 could be paid. This amount was accordingly paid to his successor, Raja Daulat Singh.

(2.) Daulat Singh was the nephew of Raja Dat Singh, being a son of the latter's brother, Tej Singh. According to the defendants, Daulat Singh was adopted by Raja Dat Singh, hut this is not conceded on behalf of the plaintiff. It is admitted on his behalf that Daulat Singh succeeded to the estate on the death of Raja Dat Singh, but it is alleged that he succeeded as Raja Dat Singh's nephew and not as his adopted son. We have not been referred to any evidence one way or the other, but it seems to have been accepted by the Court below that Daulat Singh was adopted by Raja Dat Singh. Raja Daulat Singh left two sons, Ishri Singh and Diragpal Singh. The former succeeded, to the estate, but died without issue and his brother then ascended the gaddi. Raja Diragpal Singh was succeeded by Khushal Singh, a grandson of Chandan Singh, who was a brother of Raja Daulat Singh and a son of Tej Singh, brother of Raja Dat Singh.

(3.) The two widows of Raja Isheri Singh, instituted a suit against Raja Khushal Singh and in that suit Raja Khushal Singh pleaded that he had been adopted by Raja Diragpal Singh and had heen placed on the gaddi by the Banis of Ishri Singh in pursuance of a will which Raja Diragpal Singh had made. The suit of the. widows of Raja Ishri, Singh was dismissed by the principal Sadar Anain and the appeal was dismissed by the Sadar Diwani Adalat in a judgment dated 13th September 1864. Raja Khushal Singh died in 1901 leaving two sons, Sanwal Singh and Dharam Singh, the former of whom succeeded to the gaddi. Before his death Raja Khushal Singh had purchased shares in six villages in the name of Dharam Singh and on his death Dharam Singh was also given the village of Kharrawa for his maintenance. It appears that in 1908 Dharam Singh adopted a boy named Khiyali Singh, who was the son of Lala Gokul Singh, an uncle of the plaintiff. He executed what is described as a deed of trust in favour of Khiyali Singh and applied for mufcuition of the latter's name. The application for mutation of names was contested by Raja Sanwal Singh, but ultimately an amicable settlement was effected and on 2nd and 3 November 1909, three documents were executed, being a deed of settlement, an authority to adopt and a deed of relinquishment. To these we shall have occasion to refer later on.