JUDGMENT

Daniels, J. - This is a second appeal by the plaintiffs in a suit for ejectment which was filed in the Court of an Assistant Collector of the First Class. The defendant set up proprietary right in the land. Section 199 of the Tenancy Act requires the Court in such cases either to refer the defendants to the Civil Court or to decide the question of title itself, unless the question has already been determined by a Court of competent jurisdiction. The issue between the parties is whether the question of title had previously been determined by a Court of competent jurisdiction whose decision is conclusive in the present suit. The lower Appellate Court has answered this question in the affirmative. It appears that in the year 1919 the plaintiff filed a suit for arrears of rent against the defendants in the Court of an Assistant Collector of the Second Class. The defendants alleged that they were not tenants but had a proprietary right. The Assistant Collector framed the following issue, "whether the relationship of landlord and tenant exists between the parties?" This was the sole issue in the case. In the Course of his judgment the Assistant Collector held that the defendants