Lord Atkinson :-

This is an appeal from a decree, dated the 8th July, 1919, of the High Court of Judicature at Fort William in Bengal which reversed a decree, dated the 2nd April, 1917, of the Subordinate Judge, Fourth Court of the 24-Parganas.

The main question for decision in the appeal is whether or not a sale of revenue-paying estate purporting to have been carried out under the Bengal Revenue Sales Act, XI of 1859, in respect of unpaid arrears of revenue, and purchased by the appellant Satish Chandra Chatterji (now dead) was good and valid.

The Subordinate Judge before whom the case was tried decided this question in the affirmative; the High Court decided it in the negative and made the decree hereafter mentioned.

For convenience sake the several parties to the suit may be thus denoted; the appellant by his first name, Satish; the first four respondents by their family name of Roy : the fifth respondent by the name of Akshoy; the sixth by that of Sitanath; and the formal respondent by the name of Kali Dasi.

The facts out of which the appeal has arisen are somewhat complicated. They may be stated as briefly as is needful as follows :

The estate purported to be sold was the Towzi, N