Present; Bertram C.J. and De Sampayo J.

HAMID et al. v. SPECIAL OFFICER.

71-D. C. (Inty.) Kurunegala, 6,737/7,197.

Chena land fit for coconut cultivation-Land which can be only cultivated after intervals of several years-Presumption in favour of Crown- Ordinance No. 12 of 1840, s. 6-Waste Lands Ordinance, No. 1 of 1897, s. 24-Partition decree-Crown not bound.

The presumption that chenas within the Kandyan Provinces belong to the Crown is not limited to such chenas as can only be cultivated after intervals of several years. The presumption was held to apply to a chena land which was capable of continuous cultivation with coconuts.

BERTRAM C.J.-" The words ' which can only be cultivated after intervals of several years ' are not so much words of definition as words of description. The intention was neither to define chenas, nor to select a supposed particular type of chenas .... When the Ordinance referred to chenas as being only cultivable after intervals of several years, it meant cultivable as chenas. "

A decree in a partition case to which the Crown is not a party does not bind the Crown.

THE facts are set out in the judgment.