Judgement

Consolidated Appeal and Cross-Appeal (No. 24 of 1930) from a decree of the Chief Court (May 2, 1928) which modified a decree of a single judge of that Court (November 28, 1927).

The dispute related to an estate of which a mahant had been recorded as the taluqdar under the Oudh Taluqdari Estates Act, 1869. Upon the death intestate of a succeeding mahant, disputes between claimants were settled by an agreement of January 20, 1922, under which Mahant Har Narain Das (plaintiff) was to succeed for his life, and upon his death Satgur Prasad, alias Hari Saran Das (defendant No. 1). On November 25, 1924, the plaintiff executed a deed by which he surrendered his life interest to defendant No. 1 on condition that the latter paid him Rs.1000 a month; a monthly allowance of Rs.100 was to be made also to defendant No. 3 and of Rs.50 to his wife. In pursuance of this deed defendant No. 1 took possession of the estate.

The plaintiff brought the present suit in the Chief Court on February 21, 1927, claiming a declaration that the deed of November 25, 1924, was void on the ground that it had been procured by fraud and undue influence, and that defendant No. 1 was entitled to no benefit un