Judgment

PATHAK, J.:- This is a plaintiffs appeal by special leave against a judgment and decree of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana affirming in second appeal the dismissal of his suit for possession.

2. The appellant filed a suit for possession alleging that the land in suit had been mortgaged by the original owners with his predecessors-in-interest in the year 1949 Bk., and that as the mortgage had not been redeemed within time, he had become absolute owner of the land. The suit was contested by the Union of India on the ground that the successors-in-interest of the mortgagors had become evacuees and as the mortgage was subsisting on October 30, 1951, when the Evacuee Interest (Separation) Act came into force, the mortgagees rights had been extinguished by virtue of S. 9 (2) of that Act.

3. The trial Court and the first appellate Court concurred in dismissing the suit and the High Court, in second appeal, has maintained the decree of dismissal.

4. In this appeal the appellant contends that the period of 60 years from the date of the mortgage had expired before the Evacuee Interest (Separation) Act came into force and therefore Section 9 (2) could have no effect on rights which