SHEO SHANKAR DAS Vs. RAM TAHAL KOERI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The question that arises for consideration in the present appeal is whether or not the occupants of houses in Mahal Sarda Nand of village Chachakpur, which is within the limits of the Municipality of Jaunpur, have a right to transfer, not only the materials of their houses, but also the site of their houses as well. The question has been answered in the affirmative by both the Courts below.

(2.) The suit giving rise to the present appeal was brought by the plaintiffs- appellants for possession of the site of a house that once admittedly belonged to one Hanuman, predecessor-in-title of Defendants Nos. 3 and 4, by Demolition of certain constructions made by defendants Nos. 1 and 2, in whose favour Defendants Nos. 3 and 4 had executed a sale deed with respect not only to the materials of Hanuman's house, but also the site of his house. The plaintiffs case was that the house of Hanuman had fallen about 12 years prior to the institution of the suit, and its site had reverted to the plaintiffs who were zemindars, and as such Defendants Nos. 3 and 4 had no right to transfer that site to Defendants Nos. 1 and 2. The plaintiffs further asserted that even if Hanuman's house existed, his heirs had only a transferable interest in the materials of the house and were not entitled to transfer the site.

(3.) The defence to the suit was that Chachakpur being within the municipal limits of Jaunpur, the owners of houses in that village are the absolute owners not only of the materials, but of the site of their houses as well, and have a right to transfer their houses along with the right of residence.