IN THE HIGH COURT OF ALLAHABAD
M. WAHAJUDDIN
BANSHI DHAR - Appellant
Versus
RAM SURAT - Respondents
Second Appeal 2797 Of 1972
Decided On : 07/26/1984
CONSOLIDATION OF HOLDINGS ACT, 1953 - SECTION 49 - ESTOPPEL - PLAINTIFFS ARE ESTOPPED FROM RE-AGITATING THE MATTER.
Fact of the Case:
Plaintiffs filed a suit for injunction and, in the alternative, for delivery of possession of a disputed plot and trees standing thereon, claiming ownership and possession. The defendants claimed ownership and possession, asserting that their ancestors planted the trees and that they secured a settlement of the plot from the Gaon Sabha after the abolition of zamindari.
Finding of the Court:
The trial court and the first appellate court found in favor of the defendants, holding that the land vested in the Gaon Sabha and was settled upon the defendants, who were the Bhumidhar grove holders and owners of the trees on the plot.
Issues: 1. Whether the plaintiffs are estopped from re-agitating the matter under Section 49 of the Consolidation of Holdings Act. 2. Whether the courts below erred in not considering certain admissions and documents. 3. Whether a finding on possession was recorded by the courts below.
Ratio Decidendi: 1. Section 49 of the Consolidation of Holdings Act estops the plaintiffs from re-agitating the matter as the decision of the consolidation courts is conclusive and final. 2. The courts below did not err in not considering the documents as they were not accompanied by Hindi translations as required by the Rules. 3. The finding on possession is covered by the discussions and findings of the courts below, which found that the defendants planted the trees, had an Akar Patra recording the plot and trees in their name, and had mutation and Khatauni in their favor.
Final Decision: The second appeal is dismissed, and the parties will bear their own costs.
( 1 ) THIS is a second appeal filed by the plaintiffs. Plaintiffs suit was for injunction and in the alternative in case the Court held that the plaintiffs are not in possession, for delivery of possession as such.
( 2 ) THE plaintiffs stand was that the plaintiffs are the owner in possession of the disputed plot and the trees standing thereon and the mutation is wrong and the land was wrongly recorded as Banjar. The defendants case was that their ancestors had planted the trees and they were owner in possession of plot No. 49 (area 19 decimals) having trees on the same and the trees were also planted by them and further that as a matter of precaution they secured a settlement of the plot from the Gaon Sabha after the abolition of zamindari.
( 3 ) THE trial Court framed a number of issues. It found in favour of the defendants and dismissed the suit. The first appellate Court also took similar view and dismissed the appeal. The findings are assailed in the second appeal.
( 4 ) THE points raised are, firstly, that the Courts below did not consider certain admissions and further that the view that under S. 49 of the Consolidation of Holdings Act the plaintiffs were estopped from re-agitating the matter is erroneous; and that the trial Court also wrongly did not consider the two documents of the plaintiffs on technical consideration that they were in Urdu and their translation in Hindi was not filed. It is, further, urged during the arguments that a finding on possession as such has not been recorded by the Courts below.
( 5 ) THE Supreme Court case of Ram Chandra v. Ramalingam, AIR 1963 SC 302 is an authority for the proposition that the High Court cannot interfere in the second appeal with the finding of fact and appreciation of evidence by the trial Court and the first appellate Court and in the case of Pattabhiramaswamy v. S. Hanmayya, AIR 1959 SC 57 it has been held that even an erroneous finding of fact cannot be disturbed.
( 6 ) I have gone through the judgment of the two Courts below and I find that a finding of fact has been recorded in favour of the respondents and against the plaintiffs-appellants holding that this land vested in the Gaon Sabha and was settled upon the defendants and it is they who are the Bhumidhar grove holders and the trees on the plots are their.
( 7 ) IT was urged that the finding on possession was not recorded as such and the case should be remanded. I have given my anxious consideration to the arguments urged. True that finding on possession has not been recorded specifically as such, yet the matter is covered by the discussions and the findings. The Courts below found that the defendants planted these trees. They also found that there is Akar Patra 23 recording the plot with the trees in the name of the defendants, which is final. The mutation was also in the name of the defendants and the later Khatauni is also in favour of the defendants and then the finding in favour of the defendants was given.
( 8 ) IT was argued that the Courts below erred in not considering the two documents, i. e. settlement papers, namely, the entries of 1894 and 1904 concerning a few trees in plaintiffs predecessors name. These are very old papers and obviously those trees cannot be in existence after such long interval. Second, the mention is of old plots. Much time has elapsed and it is the latter entries which would weigh. I may also observe that the trial Court and the first appellate Court cannot be said to be in error in not considering these documents when translation in Hindi (the Court language) were not filed as required under the Rules. Suppose any document is filed in Nepali, Maliyalam, Tamil and so forth and so on, the Court cannot be expected to know all these languages as to go through the documents, that is why the rule provides that such documents should be accompanied by Hindi translation. To avoid any controversy, I have perused the documents also being equally conversant with Urdu.
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