Judgement

Appeal (No. 81 of 1926) from a decree of the High Court (April 17, 1924) affirming a decree of the first Subordinate Judge of Sylhet.

The suit was brought by the appellant against numerous defendants, the present respondents, claiming possession of plots of land forming part of a zamindari estate. The appellants claim was based on the purchase of a one-seventh share in the estate in 1896 ; he alleged that the lands in suit had been allotted to him in respect of that share ; that the defendants were his tenants and that their tenancies had been determined by notices less than three years from the date of suit.

Both Courts in India held that the relation of landlord and tenant did not exist between the appellant, or his predecessors, and the respondents, or their predecessors; that art. 139 of the Indian Limitation Act, 1908, consequently did not apply, and that the suit was barred by art. 144.

Before closing his case at the hearing the plaintiff sought to put in evidence certain documents, including copies of the judgments in suits brought in 1854 by the then zamindars. These documents had not previously been produced or referred to. The Subordinate Judge refused to give l