JUDGMENT :

The defendant No. 1 in the suit is in appeal challenging the order of the High Court by which the suit dismissed by the learned Trial Court and the First Appellate Court has been decreed in Second Appeal.

2. The parties to the suit belong to the Kan No aura Tribe which is a Notified scheduled tribe under the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes Order 1950). The plaintiffs are the sons of Defendant No. 3, who sold the property to Defendant No. 1 who was a minor at the relevant point of time and was represented by his father i.e. Defendant No. 2. The pleadings and counter pleadings of the parties give rise to a simple issue which was summarised by the High Court in the following terms:

At the time of hearing learned counsel for the parties submitted that legality of transfer of land by deceased Defendant No. 3 in favour of Respondent-Defendant No. 1 is to be examined in the light of Wajib-ul-Arz Ex.P.G. It was relied upon at the time of hearing by both learned counsel in this case.

3. The learned Trial Court held that the Customary Law governing the parties recorded in a book known as "Wajib-ul-Arz" (Exhibit P.G) did Not prohibit the Defendant No. 3, the owner of the land, to effect