Appeals Nos 386 and 387 of 1966
Appeal by special leave from the judgment and_decree dated April 16 1963 of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in First Appeal No 217 of 1959
section V Gupte P C Bhartari and J B Dadachanji for the appellants in CA No 386 of 1966 and the respondents in CA No 387 of 1966
I N Shroff and Rama Gupta for the State of Madhya Pradesh
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by Ramaswami J
These appeals are brought by special leave from the judgment of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh dated 16th April 1963 in  First Appeal No 217 of 1959 whereby the High Court modified partly the judgment of the first Additional District Judge Jabalpur dismissing Civil Suit No 10 A of 1954
The suit was instituted against the State of Madhya Pradesh by Beohar Raghubir Singh and his three grand sons
Beohar Raghubir Singh s son Beohar Rajendra Sinha was a pro forma defendant
A notice under section 80 of Civil Procedure Code had been given by Raghubir Singh on 11th January 1954
Plaintiffs 2 3 and 4 his grand sons were joined as plaintiffs because in a partition made subsequent to the giving of the notice they were each entitled to 15th share along with the first plaintiff
Beohar Rajendra Sinha was joined as a defendant because he did not choose to join as the plaintiff
The plaintiffs sought a declaration 1 that the three nazul plots in suit had been in possession of the plaintiffs and the predecessors in their own right from time immemorial and their status was that of Raiyat Sarkar and 2 that the order of the State Government in the Survey and Settlement Department refusing to recognise their possession over the plots was wrong and ultra vires
The dispute relates to Phoota Tal a tank situated within the town of Jabalpur
It was plot No 282 in the settlement of 1863 AD
Its area then was 957 524 acres
it was recorded as malkiat Sarkar and in the last column there was an entry showing possession of Aman Singh Thakur Prasad
The next settlement took place in 1890 91
The survey number of Phoota Tal was changed to plot No 325
Its area remained the same it was recorded as water pani and in the last column the entry showed the possession of Beohar Narpatsingh Raghubir Singh
 The third settlement took placed in 1909 10
The plot number of Phoota Tal was then  it was still recorded change to 327
Its area remained the same it was still recorded as water but there was no entry in favour of any one showing possession
The nazul settlement took place in 1922 23
In this settlement the tank was given numbers 33 34 35 36 37 and 171
Its area was recorded as 524 acres
In this settlement about 2 acres of land was found to be occupied by the Municipal Committee Jabalpur
The land so found to be occupied was recorded in the possession of the Muncipal Committee Jabalpur and the remaining land was again recorded as Milkiat Sarkar
There was no entry regarding possession in the remarks column so far as the remaining land was concerned
The plaintiffs alleged that Thakur Prasad and Aman Singh were their ancestors that they had been in continuous possession of the disputed landand the omission to record their possession in the last two settle ments of 1909 10 and 1922 23 was due to some oversight
In 1948 the first plaintiff made an application for correction to the Deputy Commissioner Jabalpur who made an order in his favour exhibit P 5
The order of the Deputy Commissioner was however set aside by the State Government on 28th May 1953 and it was held that the plaintiffs had no title to the disputed land
The plaintiff therefore prayed for a declaration of the title to the disputed plots and for the correction of the entry in the settlement record showing the status of the plaintiff as that of Raiyat Sarkar
The suit was contested by the State of Madhya Pradesh
It was urged that the plaintiff had no possession over the disputed land and the order of the State Government dated 28th May 1953 was correct
It was contended that plaintiffs 2 3 and 4 had no right to institute the suit because no notice under section 80 of the Civil Procedure Code was given on their behalf
The suit was not contested by the second defendant Beohar Rajendra Sinha
By its judgment dated 24th January 1959 the trial court held that there was no documentary evidence from 1891 to 1932 to support the possession of the ancestors of the plaintiffs regarding Phoota Tal
The trial court also held that in all the settlement entries the land was recorded as belonging to the Government Milkiat Sarkar
In any event between 1891 to 1932 there was no evidence regarding the user of the property by the plaintiffs and in the subsequent years a part of the property was found in possession of the Municipal Committee
The trial court dismissed the suit
Against the judgment of the trial court 958 the plaintiffs preferred an appeal to the High Court
The High Court held in the first place the notice exhibit P 8 was not in conformity with section 80 of the Civil Procedure Code
The High Court held that Beohar Raghubir Singh had lost the right to represent the joint family as karta at the time of institution of the suit because there had been a severence of joint status and the notice served by Beohar Raghubir Singh could not ensure to the benefit of the other plaintiffs
On the merits of the case the High Court found that the plaintiffs had established their possession for the statutory period of 60 years
The High Court held that the plaintiffs had acquired the right of Raiyat Sarkar and that the order of the State Government refusing to correct the revenue record was illegal
On these findings the High Court modified the judgment of the trial court to the extent that there was a declaration in favour of the plaintiffs that they were entitled to 15th share of the property in dispute and the claim regarding the 45th share was dismissed The order of the State Government dated 28th May 1953 refusing to recognise the possession of the plaintiffs was held to be wrong and illegal
The first question to be considered in these appeals is whether the High Court was right in holding that the notice given under section 80 of the Civil Procedure Code by the first plaintiff was effective only with regard to Raghubir Singh and
the notice was ineffective with regard to the other plaintiffs and therefore Raghubir Singh alone was entitled to a declaration as regards the 15th share of the dispute plot
On behalf of defendant No 1 it was contended by Mr Shroff that at the time of giving notice the plaintiffs and the second defendant were joint and plaintiff No 1 Raghubir Singh was karta of the joint family
The notice was given on 11th January 1954 and the suit was instituted on 20th July 1954
It was admitted that between these two dates there was a disruption of the joint family of which Raghubir Singh was a karta
It was argued that the right of the first plaintiff to represent the family had come to an end before the institution of the suit and hence plaintiffs 2 3 and 4 had to comply individually with the provisions of section 80 of the Civil Procedure Code before appearing as plaintiffs in the suit In our opinion there is no justification for this argument
 We consider that there is substantial identity between the person giving the notice and the persons filing the suit in the present case
At the time of giving notice the first plaintiff Beohar Raghubir Singh was admittedly the eldest member of the joint family and being a karta he was entitled to represent the joint family in all its affairs
The cause of action had accrued at the time of giving of the notice and it was not necessary to give a second notice merely because there was a severence of the joint family before 20th July 1954 when the suit was actually instituted
It is obvious 959 that the notice was given by Beohar Raghubir Singh as a representative of the joint family and in view of the subsequent partition the suit had to be instituted by all the divided members of the joint family
We are of the opinion that the notice given by Beohar Raghubir Singh on 11th January 1954 was sufficient in law to sustain a suit brought by all the divided coparceners who must be deemed to be as much the authors of the notice as the karta who was the actual signatory of the notice
There is substantial identity between the person giving the notice and the persons bringing the suit in the present case and the argument of defendant No 1 on this point must be rejected
The object of the notice under section 80 Civil Procedure Code is to give to the Government or the public servant concerned an opportunity to reconsider its or his legal position and if that course is justified to make amends or settle the claim out of court
The section is no doubt imperative failure to serve notice complying with the requirements of the statute will entail dismissal of the suit
But the notice must be reasonably construed
Any unimportant error or defect cannot be permitted to be treated as an excuse for defeating a just claim
In considering whether the provisions of the statute are complied with the Court must take into account the following matters in each case 1 whether the name description and residence of the plaintiff are given so as to enable the authorities to identify the person serving the notice 2 whether the cause of action and the relief which the plaintiff claims are set out with sufficient particularity 3 whether a notice in writing has been delivered to or left at the office of the appropriate authority mentioned in the section and 4 whether the suit is instituted after the expiration of two months next after notice has been served and the plaint contains a statement that such a notice has been so delivered or left
In construing the notice the Court cannot ignore the object of the legislature viz to give to the Government or the public servant concerned an opportunity to reconsider its or his legal position
If on a reasonable reading of the notice the plaintiff is shown to have given the information which the statute requires him to give any incidental defects or irregularities should be ignored
In the present case the notice was served on 11th January 1954 by Beohar Raghubir Singh
The notice stated the cause of action arising in favour of the joint family
The requirements as to cause of action the name description and residence of the plaintiff were complied with and the reliefs which the plaintiff claimed were duly set out in the notice
It is true that Beohar Raghubir Singh did not expressly describe himself as the karta
But reading the contents of the notice exhibit P 8 in a reasonable manner it appears to us that the claim of Beohar Raghubir Singh 960 was made on behalf of the joint family
It is true that the term of section 80 of the Civil Procedure Code must be strictly complied but that does not mean that the terms of the notice should be scrutinised in an artificial or pedantic manner
In Dhian Singh Sobha  Singh  Anr
vs The Union of India  Anr
1 Bhagwati J observed in the course of his judgment  We are constrained to observe that the approach of the High Court to this question was not well founded
The Privy Council no doubt laid down in Bhagchand Dagadusa vs Secretary of State 2 that the terms of this section should be strictly complied with
That does not however mean that the terms of the notice should be scrutinised in a pedantic manner or in a manner completely divorced from common sense
As was stated by Pollock C B in Jones vs Nicholls3 We must impprt a little common sense into notices of this kind 
Beaumonth CJ also observed in Chandu Lal Vadilal vs Government of Bombay4 One must construe section 80 with some regard to common sense and to the object with which it appears to have been passed  As already pointed out the suit was instituted in the present case by the divided members of Hindu joint family on 20th July 1954
The notice had been given on 11th January 1954 by Beohar Raghubir Singh who was the karta of the undivided joint family
In our opinion there was identity between the person giving a notice and the persons filing the suit because it must be deemed in law that each of the plaintiffs had given the notice under section 80 of the Civil Procedure Code through the karta Beohar Raghubir Singh
It is not disputed that the cause of action set out in the notice remained unchanged in the suit
It is also not said that the relief set out in the plaint is different from the relief set out in the notice
We are accordingly of the opinion that the notice given by the karta was sufficient to sustain the suit brought by the divided coparceners and the decision of the High Court on this point must be over ruled
The view that we have expressed is borne out by the judgment of this Court in State of Andhra Pradesh vs Gundugola Venkata Suryanarayan Garu5
In that case the Government of Madras applied the provisions of the Madras Estates Rent Reduction Act 1947 to the lands in the village Mallindhapuram on the ground that the grant was of the whole village and hence an estate within the meaning of section 3 2 dof the Madras Estates 1  2 1927 LR 54 IA 338
3   363  1504 ILR 5  961 Land Act 1908
The respondent and another person served a notice under section 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure upon the Government of the State of Madras in which they challenged the above mentioned notification and asked the Government not to act upon it
Out of the two persons who gave the notice the respondent alone filed the suit
The trial court held that the original grant was not of the entire village and was not so confirmed or recognised by the Government of Madras and as it was not an Estate within the meaning of section 3 2 d of the Madras Estates Land Act the Madras Rent Reduction Act 1947 did not apply to it
But the suit was dismissed on the ground that although two persons had given notice under section 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure only one person had filed the suit
The High Court agreed with the trial court that the grant was not of an entire village but it also held that the notice was not defective and the suit was maintainable as it was a representative suit and the permission of the Court under 01 r 8 had been obtained in this case
The High Court granted the respondent the relief prayed for by him
Against the order of the High Court the appellant appealed to this Court which dismissed the appeal holding that in the circumstances of the case there was no illegality even though the notice was given by two persons and the suit was filed by only one
If the Court grants permission to one person to institute a representative suit and if the person had served the notice under section 80 the circumstance that another person had joined him in serving the notice but did not join him in the suit was not a sufficient ground for regarding the suit as defective
At page 953 of the Report Shah J observed as follows  The notice in the present suit was served by the plaintiff and Yegneswara Sastri
They raised a grievance about the notification issued by the Government of Madras on May 16 1950 it was not an individual grievance of the two persons who served the notice but of all the Inamdars or agrahamdars
The relief for which the suit was intended to be filed was also not restricted to their personal claim
The notice stated the cause of action arising in favour of all the Inamdars and it is not disputed that the notice set out the relief which would be claimable by all the Inamdars or on their behalf in default of compliance with the requisition
The plaintiff it is true alone filed the suit but he was permitted to sue for and on behalf of  all the Inamdars by an order of the Court unuder O 1 r 8 of the Code of Civil Procedure
The requirements as to the cause of action the name description and place of residence of the plaintiff was therefore 962 complied with and the relief which the plaintiff claimed was duly set out in the notice
The only departure from the notice was that two persons served a notice under section 80 informing the Government that proceedings would be started in default of compliance with the requisition for violation of the rights of the Inamdars and one person only out of the two instituted the suit
That in our judgment is not a defect which brings the case within the terms of section 80
On behalf of respondent No 1 reference was made to the two decisions of the Judicial Committee in Vellayan Chettiar  Ors
vs Government of the Province of Madras and Anr1 and Government of the Province of Bombay vs Pestonji Ardeshir Wadia  Ors2 But the principle of these decisions has no bearing on the question presented for determination in the present case
In Vellayan Chettiar s case1 a notice was given by one plaintiff stating the cause of action his name description and place of his residence and the relief which he claimed although the suit was instituted by him and another
It was observed by the Judicial Committee The section according to its plain meaning requires that there should be in the language of the High Court of Madras identity of the person who issues the notice with the person who brings the suit   See Venkata Rangiah Appa Rao vs Secretary of State3 and on appeal Venkata Rangiah Appa Rao vs Secretary of State 4
To hold otherwise would be to admit an implication or exception for which there is no jurisdiction Two persons had sued for a declaration that certain lands belonged to them and for an order setting aside the decision of the Appellate Survey Officer in regard to those lands
It was found that one alone out of the two persons had served the notice
The relief claimed by the two persons was personal to them and the right thereto arose out of their title to the land claimed by them
It was held by the Judicial Committee that without a proper notice under section 80 the suit could not be instituted for to hold otherwise would be to admit an implication or exception for which there was no justification
In the other case in Pestonji Ardeshir Wadia s case2 two trustees of a trust served a notice in October 1933 upon the Government of Bombay under section 80 intimating that the trustees intended to institute a suit against the Government on the cause of action and for the relief set out 1 AIR 1947 PC 197
2 76 IA 85
3 ILR Mad 416
4 963 therein
One of the trustees died before the plaint was lodged in court and two more trustees were appointed in the place of the deceased trustee
Thereafter the two now trustees and the surviving trustee filed the suit out of which the appeal arose which was decided by the Judicial Committee
No notice was served on the Government on behalf of the two new trustees
The Judicial Committee accepted the view of the High Court that where there were three plaintiffs the names and addresses of all of them must be given in the notice
Their Lordships observed that  the provisions of section 80 of the Code are imperative and should be strictly complied with before it can be said that a notice valid in law has been served on the Government
In the present case it is not contended that any notice on behalf of plaintiffs 2 and 3 was served on the Government before the filing of the suit
It is clear that the principle of these two decisions of the Judicial Committee has no application in the present case because the material facts are different
We proceed to consider the next question arising in these appeals viz whether the High Court was right in holding that the plaintiffs had established their title as raiyat sarkar with regard to 15th share in nazul plots Nos
343 33 and 1711 mentioned in the Deputy Commissioner s order dated 7th May 1948 in Revenue Case No 945 46
It was argued on behalf of defendant No 1 that there was no evidence to show that the plaintiffs were in possession of the land from 1909 to 1932 and the plaintiffs had not established their title by prescription for the statutory period of 60 years
It was contended that the High Court had no justification for holding that the plaintiffs had established the title of Raiyat Sarkar and the finding of the High Court was not based upon any evidence
In our opinion the argument put forward on behalf of defendant No 1 is wellfounded and must be accepted as correct
In the settlement of the names of Amansingh and Thakurprasad were noted in the remarks column
But the column regarding tenancy right is definitely blank
The owner is shown in the Khasra as the State Milkiat Sarkar
In the settlement of 189091 Amansingh Narpatsingh is again shown in the remarks column of the khata
But the column regarding any kind of tenancy right is again blank
It is clear that in the settlements of 1860 and 1890 91 the ownership of the land is recorded as that of the Government
The possession of the plaintiffs or of their ancestors could not be attributed to ownership or tenancy right of the property
In the settlement of 1909 10 exhibit
P 3 there is no entry in the remarks column showing the possession of the ancestors of the plaintiffs
It was said on behalf of the plaintiffs that no 1 76 IA 85
L11 Sup
CI69 12 96 4 notice was given to them of the proceedings of the settlement of 1909 10
Even assuming that this allegation is correct the entries of the khasra P 3 cannot be treated to be a nullity and of no effect
In any event it was open to the plaintiffs to adduce other reliable evidence to prove their possession between the years 1909 to 1932
But the plaintiffs have failed to produce any such evidence
ln the nazul settlement of 1922 23 the tank was given new plot numbers 33 34 3536 37 and 171 and its area was recorded as 524 acres
In this settlement about 2 acres of land was found to be occupied by the Municipal Committee Jabalpur
The land so found to be occupied was recorded in the possession of the Municipal Committee Jabalpur and the remaining land was again recorded as Milkiat Sarkar
There is no entry as regards the remaining land recording anybody s possession in the
remarks column
Actually proclamations were made during this settlement and objections were invited as per exhibit
ID 14
A date was fixed upto 31 8 1924 but no one came forward
The proclamation clearly recited that the vacant sites which were not in possession of anybody were not recognised as belonging to any person
It is impossible to believe that the plaintiffs or their ancestors were unaware of such a proclamation
Had they been in possession they would not have failed to make a claim
For the period after 1933 34 the plaintiffs produced account books to show that they exercised certain rights
Certain receipts were also proved but they also relate to a period after 1939
We have gone through the oral evidence produced by the plaintiffs and it appears to be unreliable
The result is that for the period 1891 till 1932 there is no reliable oral or documentary evidence to prove that the plaintiffs or their ancestors had any possession over the disputed land
On the contrary the disputed land ie Phoota Tal was always recognised as Milkiat Sarkar and the State Government was justified in holding that the order of the Deputy Commissioner dated 7th May 1948 should be set aside
In the course of the argument reference was made by Mr Gupte to the following passage in the Central Provinces Settlement Instructions Reprint of 1953 page 213 In dealing with proposed method of the settlement of titles it will be convenient in order to remove all causes for misapprehension among residents to lay emphasis on the policy of Government in making these settlements
That policy was defined in the Chief Commissioner s Resolution No 502 B X dated the 19th October 1917 in the Revenue  Scarcity Department but its main principles will bear repetition
As it is not the intention of Government in making the settlement to disturb long possession but only to 965 obtain an accurate record of the lands which are its property and to secure its right to any land revenue to which it may be entitled long possession even without clear proof of a definite grant from Government will be recognised as entitled the holder to possession
In deciding what constitutes long possession in any individual town regard will be had to the special circumstances of the place and while this point will be dealt with more particularly in the Deputy Commissioner s report the following general principles will ordinarily be observed  1 all occupants who are able to prove possession to any land prior to 1891 or such later date as may be fixed for each town either by themselves or by a valid title from a previous holder and all occupants who can prove a definite grant or lease from Government will be recorded as entitled to hold such land as against Government paragraph 6 of the Resolution On the basis of this passage it was argued that it was the duty of the settlement officer to treat the plaintiffs as having established their title because they were shown to be in possession in the settlement of the year 1890 91
We are unable to accept this argument as correct
The passage quoted above only applies to a case where the ownership of the land was unknown ie where possession is proved for a long time but its original title could not be traced and not to a case where the land is recorded as Government land
For the reasons expressed we hold that the suit brought by the plaintiffs being Civil Suit No 10 A of 1954 should be dismissed
Civil Appeal 386 of 1966 is accordingly dismissed and Civil Appeal 387 of 1966 is allowed with costs in favour of defendant No 1 ie State of Madhya Pradesh
There will be one hearing fee
RKPS Civil Appeal 38666 dismissed
Civil Appeal 38766 allowed


Summary:
The appellant who was at the time the Karta of a Hindu Joint Family gave notice in January 1954 to the respondent State under section 80 of the Civil Procedure Code
Thereafter a suit was filed in July 1954 by which time a partition had taken place in the family
In view of this the appellant s three grand sons were joined as plaintiffs in the suit the plaintiffs sought a declaration that three nazul plots in suit had been in the possession of the plaintiffs and their ancestors from time immemorial and their status was that of Raiyat Sarkar so that an order of the State Government in the Survey and Settlement Department refusing to recognise their possession over the plots was wrong and ultra vires
Apart from contesting the suit on the merits the respondent State contended that plaintiffs 2 3 and 4 ie the appellant s grand sons had no right to institute a suit because no notice under section 80 CPC was given on their behalf
The trial court dismissed the suit
In an appeal the High Court held that the appellant had lost the right to represent the joint family as karta at the time of institution of the suit because their had been severence of joint status and the notice served by him could not enure to the benefit of other plaintiffs
On the merits the High Court found that the plaintiffs had shown their possession for the statutory period of 6 years
On appeal to this Court HELD 1 The notice given by the appellant in January 1954 was sufficient in law to sustain a suit brought by all the divided coparceners who must be deemed to be as much the authors of the notice as the Karta who was the actual signatory of the notice
There was substantial identity between the person giving the notice and the persons bringing the suit in the present case
959 B At the time of giving notice the appellant was admittedly the eldest member of the joint family and being a Karta he was entitled to represent the joint family in all its affairs
The cause of action had accrued at the time of giving of the notice and it was not necessary to give a second notice merely because there was a severance of the joint family before 20th July 1954 when the suit was actually instituted
958 G H Although the terms of section 80 CPC must be strictly complied with that does not mean that the terms of the notice should be scrutinised in an artificial or pedantic manner
960 A Dhian Singh Sobha Singh  Anr
vs The Union of India   referred to 956 State of Andhra Pradesh vs Gundugola Venkata Suryanarayan Garu   Vellayan Chettiar  Ors
vs Government of the Province of Madras and Anr
 AIR 1947 PC 197 Government of the Province of Bombay vs Pestonji Ardeshir Wadia  Ors 76 IA 85 distinguished
2 On the merits the appellants had failed to produce reliable oral or documentary evidence to prove that their ancestors had possession over the disputed land for many years
On the contrary this land was always recognised as Milkiat Sarkar and the respondent State Government was justified in holding it as such