2013 Supreme(Raj) 795
RAJASTHAN HIGH COURT AT JAIPUR BENCH
Nisha Gupta, J.
Manohar Lal Jakhodia - Appellant
Versus
Shambhu Dayal and another - Respondent
S.B. civil Misc. Appeal No. 4019 of 2012.
Decided On : 11-02-2013
For the Appellant:Manoj Kumar Agarwal, Advocate.
For the Respondents:Satya Narain Shah, Advocate.
Important Points
Subject
Civil Law - Property Law
Act Referred
Headnote
RAJASTHAN PUBLIC TRUST ACT, 1959 - SECTION 29 - SUIT BY UNREGISTERED TRUST - BAR - POSSESSION OF PROPERTY - COMMISSIONER'S REPORT - COMPETENCY - INJUNCTION - GRANT OF - CONDITIONS.
Fact of the Case:
The appellant, claiming to be the owner and in possession of the land in question, filed a civil suit for cancellation of sale deed along with a temporary injunction application. The respondents contended that the land was their ancestral property and that the appellant had sold it to a third party in a compromise entered in a previous suit. The court below rejected the appellant's application for temporary injunction.
Finding of the Court:
The court held that the appellant's suit was barred under Section 29 of the Rajasthan Public Trust Act, 1959, as the Jakhodia Charitable Trust, of which the appellant was the trustee, was not registered. The court also held that the commissioner's report on the appellant's possession of the land was not admissible in evidence, as it was not within the commissioner's competence to make an inquiry about the possession of the disputed land.
Issues: 1. Whether the appellant's suit was barred under Section 29 of the Rajasthan Public Trust Act, 1959? 2. Whether the commissioner's report on the appellant's possession of the land was admissible in evidence?
Ratio Decidendi: 1. Section 29 of the Rajasthan Public Trust Act, 1959 bars suits to enforce a right on behalf of a public trust which is required to be registered under the Act but has not been so registered. 2. Rule 67 of the General Rules (Civil), 1986 provides that no point which can conveniently and ought to be substantiated by the parties by evidence at the trial shall be referred to the commissioner.
Final Decision: The court dismissed the appeal, holding that the court below had rightly rejected the appellant's application for temporary injunction.
"Bar against suits by unregistered trust.- (1) No suit to enforce a right on behalf of a public trust which is required to be registered under this Act but has not been so registered shall be heard or decided in any court."
"Particulars to be given in the order for local investigation-.........No point which can conveniently and ought to be substantiated by the parties by evidence at the trial shall be referred to the commissioner."
"In a suit for injunction the question as to who is in possession of the property, is a matter to be decided by the Court on the basis of evidence, either oral or documentary, to be adduced by the parties. That function cannot be delegated to a Commissioner who cannot find out as to who is in possession of the property."