JUDGMENT

1. We are invited in this Bale to set aside a decree by which the Small Cause Court has dismissed the suit of the petitioners to recover money paid by them on the 16th August 1910, in satisfaction of a decree obtained against them by the defendant.

2. The circumstances under which the suit was commenced may be briefly stated. On the 28th November 1907, a body of zemindars, who had been described as the Dutts, obtained a decree for arrears of rent against one Beni Madhab, the recorded tenant of a tenure. It appears that on the 21st May 1901, the present defendant, Mohendra Nath Roy, had purchased one-half share of the tenure from Beni Madhab while the other half had vested in the plaintiffs; the name of Bani Madhab, however, continued to be recorded in the books of the landlords. The result was that in execution of the decree for arrears of rent obtained by the landlords, they proceeded to bring the tenure to sale. The defendant, Mohendra Nath Roy, thereupon deposited the decretal amount in Court and saved the property from sale. Subsequently, he brought a suit for contribution against the present plaintiffs on the allegation that one-half of the rent was payable by them, whi