PATHAK, J. :- On April 30, 1958 the respondents purchased from Messrs. Dost Mohammad Private Limited the property described as No. 45 Tagore Road situated in the Cantonment at Kanpur. It comprises of a bungalow and land. The building site on which the bungalow stands, is referred to as survey No. 100. Admittedly, the lease or written grant under which survey No. 100 was given is not traceable. But it is recorded in the General Land Register as"occupancy land on old grant terms".

2. On May 19, 1958 the respondents applied to the Cantonment Authorities for mutation of their names, but before the request was granted the respondents were required to admit that the land comprised in the property belonged to the Government. On September 13, 1961 the property was mutated in the names of the respondents and on September 15, 1961 the respondents executed a deed admitting that the site appurtenant to the property and forming its compound belonged to the Government of India and was held by them subject to the conditions, limitations and disabilities laid down in the Governor General's Order No. 179 dated September 12, 1836.

3. The respondents, anxious to obtain a lease of the land in t