Judgment on Board

1. The present Second Appeal has been filed under Section 100 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 by the defendant, who is the appellant herein, assailing the judgment and decree dated 28/01/2020 passed in Regular Civil Appeal No. 29A/2017 (Sundi Bai & Anr. v. Babulal & Others) by the learned Additional District Judge, Pendraroad, Bilaspur (C.G.). By the said impugned judgment, the First Appellate Court allowed the appeal preferred by the plaintiff/respondent No.1 & 2 herein and set aside the judgment and decree dated 27/01/2017 passed in Civil Suit No. 71A/2010 (Sundi Bai & Anr. v. Babulal & Others) by the learned Civil Judge, Class I, Pendraroad, District Bilaspur (C.G.).

2. For the sake of convenience, the parties shall hereinafter be referred to as per their status before the Trial Court.

Facts of the case:

3. (a) The plaintiffs instituted a civil suit against the defendants seeking declaration of title over the suit land, recovery of possession, and for declaring the sale deeds as null and void. The suit land is situated at Village Chachedi, Patwari Halka No. 03, Revenue Inspector Circle Marwahi, Tahsil Marwahi, District Bilaspur (C.G.), bearing Khasra No. 3/02, admeasuring 1.25 acres (hereinafter referred to as the “suit land”).

(b) The case of the plaintiffs, in brief, is that the suit land along with other lands originally belonged to plaintiff No. 01 as ancestral property, which was allotted to him pursuant to an order of partition dated 07.01.1979 passed by the Court of Naib Tahsildar, Marwahi in Partition Case No. 33A-27/1978-79. Plaintiff No. 01 is the son of plaintiff No. 02, and both their names were recorded over the suit land.

(c) It has been further pleaded that the father of defendants No. 01 to 03 and husband of defendant No. 04, namely Sukhlal, got his name recorded over the suit land on the basis of false and fabricated documents, though the possession of the suit land always remained with the plaintiffs. Upon coming to know about such illegal entry, the plaintiffs preferred an appeal before the Sub-Divisional Officer, Pendraroad, which was registered as Case No. 29A-6/1999-2000 and was allowed vide order dated 22.03.2002, restoring the names of the plaintiffs over the suit land.

(d) Thereafter, the plaintiffs sold the suit land to defendant No. 06, Premvati, by a registered sale deed dated 31.05.2004 for a consideration of Rs. 30,000/-. However, Sukhlal preferred a revision against the order dated 22.03.2002 before the Additional District Judge, Pendraroad, which was registered as Revision Case No. 34A-6/2001-2002 and was allowed vide order dated 08.06.2004, whereby the order of the Sub-Divisional Officer was set aside and the name of Sukhlal was restored in the revenue records.

(e) It has further been pleaded that the plaintiffs preferred a revision before the Commissioner, Bilaspur Division, which came to be dismissed due to their non-appearance. Thereafter, Sukhlal sold the suit land to defendant No. 05, Kamla Bai, by a registered sale deed dated 08.02.2006, who has since been in possession thereof.

(f) It is the further case of the plaintiffs that due to dispossession of defendant No. 06, Premvati (who had earlier purchased the land from the plaintiffs), she demanded refund of the sale consideration. A settlement took place in the Panchayat, pursuant to which the plaintiffs refunded Rs. 30,000/- to defendant No. 06 on 02.09.2008 in the presence of witnesses, and the earlier sale deed was returned. However, as the name of Sukhlal continued in the revenue records, the title of the plaintiffs became clouded.

(g) On these grounds, the plaintiffs prayed that the sale deed dated 31.05.2004 executed by them in favour of defendant No. 06 and the sale deed dated 08.02.2006 executed by Sukhlal in favour of defendant No. 05 be declared null and void, and that the plaintiffs be declared owners of the suit land and be put in possession thereof.

(h) Defendants No. 01 to 05, in their written state