Counsel appearing in a suit of Wakf Board also Chairman of Wakf Board.

This Letters Patent Appeal has been instituted by the Wakf Board of Madras State, represented by its Secretary, from the Judgment of Kailasam, J. in C.M.P. No. 6252 of 1964 in S.A. No. 965 of 1961. We may very briefly state, before setting out the essential facts necessary for an analysis of the ground of controversy in this appeal, that the application was under the Muslim Wakf Act, for declaring a particular decree (decree in O.S. No. 432 of 1956 on the file of the Third Additional District Munsif, Tiruchirappalli confirmed by the Judgment in A.S. No. 437 of 1958, District Court, Tiruchirappalli and S.A. No. 965 of 1961 of this Court) as void within the scope of section 57, sub-clause (3) of the Act (XXIX of 1954). The Learned Judge (Kailasam, J.) dismissed the petition as barred by limitation and the appeal is from this order.

Before proceeding to the facts, it may be necessary to notice the precise terms of sections 57 (1) and 57 (3) of the Wakf Act (XXIX of 1954). Section 57 (1) states:

" In every suit or proceeding relating to title to Wakf property..............the Court shaIl issue notice to the Board at the cost of the party instituting such suit or proceeding. "

Under section 57 (3):

‘ ‘In the absence of a notice under sub-section (1) any decree or order passed in the suit or proceeding shall be declared void, if the Board, within one month of its coming to know of such suit or proceeding, applies to the Court in this behalf. "

The following events and dates, furnishing the background of the litigation, are essential for a proper understanding of the ground of controversy. The dispute related to a Wakf known as Rustom Shaheed Durga Wakf in Sirudayur Village, Tiruchirappalli District. Admittedly, the Wakf was included in the list of the Wakfs published by the Wakf Board in the Fort Saint George Gazette, dated 10th February, 1958. A certain Kandaswami Iyer filed O.S. No. 616 of 1949 and O.S. No. 12 of 1950 in the District Munsifs Court, Tiruchirappalli for recovery of possession of two properties, S. Nos. 131/3 and 132, of Sirudayur Village, and these actions were resisted by the Durga on the ground that these were properties of the Durga in which the plaintiff had no rights whatever. It is admitted that the suits were dismissed by the trial Court (the learned District Munsif) on 15th October, 1951. First appeals were filed by the plaintiff concerned, in the Court of the Subordinate Judge, Tiruchirappalli, and they were numbered as A.S. No. 49 and 50 of 1952 and dealt with on the merits. It is not in dispute that the appeals were allowed on 2nd September, 1952, thereby declaring the title of the plaintiff and his right to possession. S.A. Nos. 2053 and 2054 of 1952 were again decided in favour of that plaintiff and were dismissed by Krishnaswami Nayudu, J., on 25th January, 1956. In this context itself, we may note that the Muslim Wakfs Act (XXIX of 1954) received the assent of the President on 21st May, 1954. There was a period of an interregnum, when no Wakf Board under the Act was constituted in Madras State ; but ultimately such a Board was constituted on 1st February, 1958.

There was a subsequent suit, O.S. No. 432 of 1956, instituted on behalf of the Durga, for a declaration that the decrees in the two previous suits, in the First Appellate Court and in Second Appeals in this Court, winch allowed and established the claim of the plaintiff (Kandasami Iyer) to the suit properties and his right to possession, were really fraudulent and collusive decrees, obtained by collusion between the plaintiff and the then representative of the Durga. This was dismissed by the District Munsif of Tiruchirappalli on 22nd April, 1958, and the first appeal from this decree of dismissal (A.S. No. 437 of 1958) was dismissed by the District Judge on 7th September, 1960. On 2nd April, 1964, the Second Appeal from this decree (S.A. No. 965 of 1961) was disposed of by Kailasam, J., and the Second Appeal was dismissed.