This second appeal arises out of a suit by the Sri Vedaranyeswaraswami Davasthanam at Vedaranyam for a declaration against the Province of Madras represented by the Collector of Tanjore as the first defendant that a portion of the Sannadhi Street in the village of Vedaranyam had been wrongly assigned by the first defendant to the second and for recovery of possession of the street property from the second defendant after removing the structures built upon it by him pursuant to the assignment. The plaintiff claimed to be the grantee of the entire village in inam from a Tanjore King of old under a grant which has not been produced but which, as appears from the inam title deed, was confirmed by the British Government in 1863. The plaintiff accordingly urged that the reversionary title to the street which was one dedicated to the public including the villagers was all along vested in it.

The second defendant based his title on an assignment made to him by the first defendant after its conversion into ryotwari land as the result of an order of the District Collector of Tanjore under section 20-A of the Madras Estates Land Act dated 31st July, 1944, which held that the street was