DHANNA MAL Vs. MOTI SAGAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This suit relates to a plot of land about 2,250 square yards in area situate in the Sudder Bazaar in Delhi. The laud belongs to the respondent. At the commencement of the suit it was in the occupation of the appellants at a rent of Rs. 25 per mensem. The buildings upon the land are the property of the appellants. The suit by the respondent as plaintiff is a suit in ejectment and for arrears of rent. The great question between the parties is as to the nature of the appellants interest in the land. Were they, as the respondent contends, mere tenants at will, or, as they themselves assert, are they entitled to a permanent inheritable right therein subject to the payment of a fixed rent ?

(2.) The Subordinate Judge of Delhi decreed the suit. On appeal by the defendants the District Judge of Delhi dismissed it. On March 17, 1922, the High Court of Judicature at Lahore, on second appeal by the plaintiff, reversed the decree of the District Judge and restored that of the Subordinate Judge, with a modification relating to the buildings on the land, to which their Lordships will refer later. This appeal to the Board is against the decree of the High Court. The appellants ask that the order of the District Judge be restored and that the suit against them be dismissed.

(3.) The appeal was elaborately argued before the Board, and the questions involved are very fully discussed in the judgments of the Courts in India. As a result, the effective issues are now reduced in number and simplified in character, and they can be dealt with by their Lordships, as they hope, with comparative brevity. It will be convenient at once to clear away certain matters preliminary in character which were much discussed in the Courts below.