[Full Bench. ]

Present: The Hon. Sir Joseph T. Hutchinson, Chief Justice,
Mr. Justice Middleton, and Mr. Justice Wood Renton.

ABDUL AZIZ v. ABDUL RAHIM et al.

Muhammadan mosque - Trustee - Possessory action - Requisites of " possession. "

A person appointed by the congregation of a Muhammadan mosque as " trustee " for a term of years, whose duties and powers are defined by the rules framed by the congregation, and who is controlled in the exercise of his powers by an " assembly " elected by the congregation, is not entitled to maintain a possessory action.

The Roman-Dutch Law requires the plaintiff in a possessory action to have had quiet and undisturbed possession for a year and a day; and the requisites of possession are the power to deal with the property as he pleases, to the exclusion of every other person, and the animus domini, i. e., the intention of holding it as his own.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Acting Additional District Judge of Colombo (G. S. Schneider, Esq. ).

This was a possessory action brought by the plaintiff against the defendants. The plaintiff in this case claimed to be trustee of the