BABU RAM SINGH Vs. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF BARABANKI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE villages which are the subject of this suit are part of the Defendant's talook, and are included in the sanad under which he holds that talook. The Plaintiffs claim to be proprietors of the villages by virtue of a deed of gift, which was dated in the year 1850, and of possession taken under that deed, and continued up to the present time. The deed of gift was made by the son of the then rajah, or talookdar, who was the manager of the estate, and made to the brother of the then talookdar, who is the father of the Plaintiffs. The genuineness of the deed is disputed; but it has been held to be genuine by the Judicial Commissioner; and for the purposes of the present appeal the correctness of that holding may be assumed. But there is no doubt that the deed of gift (whether it is an absolute gift, or one for maintenance only, is a matter of dispute) was displaced by Lord Canning's proclamation; and that the sanad of the taluk conferred an absolute title upon the grantee prima facie.

(2.) THE Plaintiffs base their claim upon the principle of those decisions of this committee in which it has been held that the conduct of the holder of a sanad has been sufficient to establish against him a liability to make good, out of his sanad, interests in the property which he has by that conduct either granted to other people, or given them ground to claim. But the Plaintiffs do not show that there has been any such conduct beyond the fact that they have been left in possession of the property during the whole time of the troubles in Oudh, and down to the present time.

(3.) THEY are now desirous of selling or mortgaging the property. They have attempted to do so, and they have failed because they cannot get a mutation of names; and the present suit is a declaratory suit, in which they seek a declaration that they are the proprietors of the property in order that they may obtain a mutation of names.