GULAB RAI Vs. TULSI RAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a defendant's appeal and arises out of a suit brought by the plaintiff- respondent for recovery of Rs. 900 under the following circumstances:

(2.) The plaintiff and the defendants and one Munna Lal were co-sharers in a village. Munna Lal was the lambardar and on the latter's death Tulsi Ram plaintiff- respondent, sued Ram Narain, the son of Munna Lal, for the profits of 1320 to 1323 Faslis in the Revenue Court. Ram Narain contested the suit on the allegation that he had paid the profits of the share of Tulsi Ram to Jagannath and Gulab Rai defendants. The written statement containing this allegation was filed by Ram Narain on the 13 of September 1919. The defence of Ram Narain found favour with the Court, and Tulsi Ram's suit was dismissed on the 26 of August 1918, and that decision was affirmed on appear on the 11 of March 1919. Thereupon the suit giving rise to the present appeal was brought on the 23 of August 1921, by Tulsi Ram, plaintiff-respondent, for recovery of the profits for the aforesaid years and for interest and for the costs of the suit in the Revenue Court, against Jagannath and Gulab Rai, defendants-appellants. The plaintiff's allegation was that the defendants fraudulently concealed the fact of the receipt of the plaintiff's share of the profits from the lambardar, and all along assured the plaintiff that they had not realised any amount due to him, and the plaintiff came to know the real facts when his suit for profits was ultimately dismissed by the appellate Court on the 11 of March 1919.

(3.) The defendants contested the suit on the ground that they had not realised the profits of the plaintiff's share,and that the suit was time barred. They also denied the allegations of the plaintiff relating to the perpetration of fraud by them.