1. The appellants sued to recover michavaram under the terms of Ext. A-2, a kanom deed, of the year 1943, which was in renewal of earlier kanom deeds, the earliest being Ext. B-1 of the year 1918, which was before the Malabar Tenancy Act, 1929 was enacted. The michavarom payable in paddy under Ext. B-1 was only 491/2 paras, while that payable under the later document was 175 odd paras of paddy. One of the contentions of the second defendant-respondent was, that after the passing of the Malabar Tenancy Act, 1929, by virtue of S.17, the landlord has no right to recover anything in excess of what was payable under the kanom deed before the date of the Act, and that the provisions in the kanom document executed after the date of the Act to the contrary are not enforceable. The courts below have accepted this contention, primarily on the interpretation of S.17 (a) of the Act.

S.17 (a) reads as follows: -

"A kandamar shall on the expiry of the kanam under which he holds be entitled to claim and his immediate landlord shall be bound to grant a renewal, enuring for a period of twelve years, of the same on payment, as renewal fee, of two and one-fourth times the balance of the ann