Judgment

SHAH, J. :

The respondent as purchaser of certain Inam lands in village Siruvengai-Peruvengai filed a suit disputing the power of the State of Madras to issue notifications in respect of that village under Act 30 of 1947 as the village of Siruvengai-Peruvengani was not an estate as defined in cl. (d) sub-s. (2) of S. 3 of the Madras Estates Land Act, 1908, that is, it was not an "Inam village of which the grant had been made, confirmed or recognized by the Government." It is conceded that the notification could not issue if the respondent s contention about the village was right. Now, it is well settled and not in question that except in the cases covered by the explanations in cl. (d) the Inam village referred to in this definition must be a whole village, that is, the whole village must have been granted as Inam. No question arises in in the present case as to the application of the explanations.

2. The respondent advanced three contentions in support of his case that SiruvengaiPeruvengai was not an estate within S. 3 (2)(d). He first said that Siruvengai-Peruvengai was not a whole village but was a part of the village of Tirukkalapatti. Then he said that the grant of the I