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1939 Supreme(Cal) 62

CALCUTTA HIGH COURT
K.K. Das, Receiver & Ors. - Appellant
Versus
Sm. Amina Khatun Bibi & Anr. - Respondent
Decided On : 21-08-1939

The legal principle established in the judgment is that the ownership of a building erected on another's land depends on the circumstances of construction and the relationship between the parties, as guided by the legal precedents of Thakoor Chunder Poramanick v. Ramdhone Bhuttacharjee, Vallabhdas Naranji v. Development Officer Bandra, and Ramsden v. Dyson.

Headnote:

Property Rights - Land and Building Ownership - Thakoor Chunder Poramanick v. Ramdhone Bhuttacharjee (1866) 6 W.R. 228 (F.B.), Vallabhdas Naranji v. Development Officer Bandra AIR (1929) P.C. 163, Ramsden v. Dyson (1865) 1 H.L. 129 - Section 51, T.P. Act

Fact of the Case:

The plaintiff, wife of defendant 3, claimed properties under Order 21, Rule 63, Civil P.C., as her own, including a pucca dwelling house, alleging that she constructed it with her own money after the lands had been conveyed to her by her husband in 1909.

Finding of the Court:

The court allowed her claim to the lands and structures described in Schedule A(1) but dismissed her suit in respect to the properties described in Schedule B(1) and C(1). The court held that the land belonged to the respondent, but the building was erected at the costs of defendant 3, concluding that the building also belongs to the respondent.

Issues: The main issue was the ownership of the properties claimed by the plaintiff, specifically the pucca dwelling house, and whether the building erected by defendant 3 on the land belonging to the respondent could be claimed by him.

Ratio Decidendi: The court applied the legal principles established in Thakoor Chunder Poramanick v. Ramdhone Bhuttacharjee, Vallabhdas Naranji v. Development Officer Bandra, and Ramsden v. Dyson to determine the ownership of the building, considering the circumstances of the construction and the relationship between the parties.

Final Decision: The appeal was dismissed, and the court held that the building also belongs to the respondent, affirming the judgment of the Subordinate Judge.

JUDGMENT

1. Kazi Abdul Aziz (defendant 3) borrowed sums of money from Radha Bullav Saha (defendant 1), on different occasions from 24th April to 17th October 1928. The said defendant 1 brought a suit in 1931 to recover the same and got a decree for Rs. 3129 odd on 6th May 1932. Kazi Abdul Aziz had a running business with Shaikh Muhammad Hanif (defendant 2). The accounts were twice adjusted: once on 13th April 1931, when Rs. 1907 odd was found due from the former to the latter, and again on 17th October 1931 when a sum of Rs. 2304 odd was similarly found due. For both these amounts Abdul Aziz executed hatchittas in favour of Muhamed Hanif. Transactions between them however continued on till 5th April 1932. On that date the former was in debt to the latter to the extent of Rs. 2076 odd. The latter brought a suit and recovered a decree for the same on 10th March 1933. These two decree-holders executed their decrees and attached some properties as belonging to their judgment-debtor. The plaintiff-appellant, who is the wife of Abdul Aziz, preferred two claims. These claims were dismissed by the execution Court on 31st August and 4th October 1933 respectively. She then instituted this suit under the provisions of Order 21, Rule 63, Civil P.C., on 8th November 1933. In the suit she claims the properties described in three Schedules A(1), B(1) and C(1) as her own. On some of the plots included in Schedule A(1) stands a pucca dwelling house. She also claims the same on the ground that she constructed it with her own money after the lands had been conveyed to her in 1909 by her husband in consideration of the dower money then due to her.

2. The learned Subordinate Judge by his judgment and decree dated 12th December 1935 allowed her claim to the lands described in Schedule A(1) and to the structures thereon, but has dismissed her suit in respect to the properties described in Schedule B(1) and C(1). This appeal is confined to the lands of Schedule A(1) and to the structures thereon. We are told that an appeal has been filed by her against that part of the decree of the Subordinate Judge which is against her. Nothing which we may hereafter say shall be taken to prejudice any of the parties in respect of the properties of Schedules B(1) and C(1). Defendants 1 and 2 have preferred this appeal in which they challenge the findings and conclusions of the learned Subordinate Judge in respect of the lands of Schedule A(1) and the buildings thereon. With regard to the lands of the said Schedule we hold that the learned Subordinate Judge is right in his conclusions. The said lands had been conveyed to the respondent by her husband by a registered kobala dated 25th May 1909 (Ex. I). The consideration recited is the liquidation of half the dower debt then due to her. The evidence is one-sided, that a dower of Rs. 1102 was fixed at the time of the marriage. There is no evidence that that debt had been discharged by the husband before May 1909 in any other way. There is also no evidence that the husband was involved in 1909. There is no reason why he should axecute a fictitious deed as far back as 1909. We accordingly hold in agreement with the learned Subordinate Judge that Ex. 1 is a valid document and had passed to the respondent the lands described in Schedule A(1) of the plaint.

3. Some of the plots mentioned in Schedule A(1) constituted the homestead of the couple. The evidence is that at the time of Ex. 1 there were kutcha structures thereon. Thereafter valuable structures costing about Rs. 4000 have replaced those kutcha buildings. The respondent's case is that with her own money she built these structures in or about the year 1923. She and her witness Abdul Barik Mallik have said that these structures had been built with the sum of Rs. 2000 which had been given to her by her father, with Rs. 1500 being the sale proceeds of her ornaments and with Rs. 500 being the accumulated profits of her property. The learned Subordinate Judge has believed th

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