Judgment

SHELAT, J.: This appeal, by special leave, ariese out of procedings under S. 44 (2a) of the West Bengal Estates Acquisition Act, 1 of 1954 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) and concerns a tank fishery known as Napukar situate in Mauza Kandi, District Murshidabad.

2. The tank is the absolute debuttar property of the deity known as Iswar Sri Saradia Thakurani, of whom the respondents are and have at all material times been the shebaits. The last District Settlement Record recorded the interest of the deity in the said tank and described it as a rent free tenure. The maintenance of the deity and expenses connected with her seba puja are met from the income and usufruct of the tank. The Revisional Record of Right under the Act also described the tank as the absolute debuttar property of the deity. But the entry also mentioned that one Kumarish Chandra Saha and Aswini Kumar Saha were the tenants of the tank paying were the tenants of the tank paying an annual rent of Rs. 60/-. A receipt issued by the respondents also stated that the tank had been leased for a period of nine years, i. e., from 1358 B. S. to 1366 B. S., at the rate of Rs. 60/- a year. But there was no register