vil Appeal Nos
1755 56 of 1990
From the Judgment and Order dated 921989 of the Cal cutta High Court in Matter No 3737 of 1987
Dr Shankar Ghosh CS Vaidyanathan SR Setia KV Vis 285 wanathan and AK Sil for the Appellants
SK Kapoor PK Pillai DK Sinha Mrs R Paul and HK Puri for the Respondents
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by RANGANATHAN J
Leave granted
These appeals arise as a sequel to certain directions of this Court in the famous Sanchaita case
The Sanchaita Investment Company was a firm which was controlled and run primarily by three persons Samonu Prasad Mukherjee Bihari al Murarka and Swapan Kumar Guha
It had been able by dint of a tremendous advertisement campaign to collect deposits amounting to several crores of rupees from thousands of depositors spread all over India by holding out attractive terms of interest
The firm initially prospered and its deposits steeply mounted to astronomical figures
The firm however began to acquire or deal in movable and immovable properties in various cities of India in the names not only of the firm but of relatives and benamidars of various persons who were in management its affairs
A sizeable portion of the firm s funds being thus tied up or siphoned away from its coffers for the private benefit of the indi viduals running it the firm eventually began making de faults in its obligations to the depositors
The depositors thereupon approached the High Court and eventually the matters came up to this Court in WP Nos 638 and 755 800 of 1983
With a view to safeguard the interests of the depositors arrange for a return to them of as much of their deposits as possible and ensure that the properties of the firm were duly identified and the full and due benefit of the funds diverted from its coffers was restored to the firm this Court by its order dated 4583 appointed a retired District Judge as a Commissioner to take charge of all the assets documents and papers of the firm and of its agents sub agents transferees and benamidars
Directions were given to the Commissioner to look into the claims of depositers and to devise a scheme whereby persons who had deposited sums not exceeding Rs25000 could be repaid expeditiously
By a subsequent order dated 27983 certain directions were given to enable the Commissioner to 286 gather in all the assets of the firm
It is necessary to quote a portion of this order
It read The Commissioner may attach such assets and properties which in his prima facie opinion are of the ownership of the firm Sanchaita Investments or of the ownership of any of its partners
Such assets and properties may be put to sale by the Commissioner if no objection is received to the attachment thereof within one month of the date of attach ment
All objections received to the attachment of such assets or properties will be forwarded by the Commissioner to the Prothonotary of the High Court of Calcutta
We re quest the learned Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to nominate a Division Bench of the High Court for the purpose of jurisdiction upon such objections
The Division Bench will dispose of the objections on merits after hearing all interested parties
 Reference must also be made to another order of this Court dated 23985 in CMP No 3858985
By this order this Court directed After heating counsel for the parties we consider it neces sary to empower the Commissioner Sanchaita Investment to remove all unauthorised persons and trespassers from posses sion of the property proposed to be sold by the Commissioner under the orders of this Court and to hand over vacant possession to the rightful purchasers
The Commissioner is authorised to take the assistance of the police for the purpose of obtaining possession and handing it over to the rightful purchasers
 In pursuance of these directions the Commissioner attached a large number of properties situate all over the country which he had reason to believe were properties which belonged to the firm though acquired in the names of others
When the properties were so attached and sought to be sold objections were lodged by persons claiming title or possession of the property in their own right and these objections were adjudicated upon by the designated Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court
287 One of the properties that were thus attached by the Commissioner was house No 5211B Surendra Nath Banerjee Road Calcutta 14
There is a slight discrepancy in the door number of this property as appearing in various docu ments but that is not material for our purposes
This property stood on land of the small extent of about 800 sq
and comprised of five rooms in the ground floor three in front and two at the back a first floor and a second floor but being business premises in a busy commercial locality is of considerable value today
The Commissioner found that this property had been acquired in the name of Mahamaya Devi an aunt of Sambhu Prasad Mukherjee for Rs85000 on 4101977
Apparently the Commissioner was of the opinion that the property was really that of the firm acquired in the name of Mahamaya Devi
He therefore at tached this property by a public notice taken out inter alia in The Statesman dated 27584 to the following effect The Public are hereby informed that in exercise of the authority and power vested in me under the order of the Hon ble Supreme Court of India passed and made on 4583 and 27983    I had attached or I had taken possession of or I am hereby taking possession of as the case may be the following properties specified in the schedule below including flats lands cars launch business shares in companies and partnership firms and house properties
The persons in which names these properties stand are hereby warned that they shall not lease out assign sell mort gage transfer or otherwise encumber or deal with them until further orders from me
Anybody dealing with such properties would do so at his own risk or responsibility
 It appears that there were also other similar notices issued by the Commissioner
In response to one of these notices Smt
Mahamaya Devi put forward her claim to the ownership of the property but her claim was rejected by the Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court on 293
1985 in Case No 23 of 1984
Sri Kapur learned counsel for the respondents states that a petition for special leave to appeal to this Court preferred by her was also rejected sometime in 1985
This is not contradicted by the petition ers
We may therefore proceed for the purposes of this case on the footing that though standing in the name of Mahamaya Devi the property in question belongs to the firm Sanchaita
288 Subsequently the property was brought to sale by the Commissioner
Sealed tenders were invited for the purchase of the properties specified in the schedule by a notice published in The Statesman on 7386 on an as is where is basis
The notice specifically mentions that the posses sion of only three of the six items mentioned in the notice was with the Commissioner and the property presently in question was not one of them
Asit Kumar Mandal and two others the respondents before us hereinafter compendiously referred to as the Mandais  offered on 22586 to purchase the property for Rs 126000 in lump sum subject to negotiations in the matter
They undertook to deposit 25 of the price on the acceptance of the offer and the balance at the time of giving us the physical possession of the said premises
After a discussion with the Commissioner they deposited Rs31500 on 1161986 and stated in their letter of the same date to the Commissioner We shall deposit the balance amount as and when called upon to do so
Thereafter you will hand over to us the posses sion of the said premises free from illegal trespassers
On 12686 the Commissioner accepted the offer of the Mandais subject to the following conditions namely a That the proposed sale in your favour under the condi tions mentioned herein below is approved by our advisory Board
b That I4th ie Rs 31500 of the total consideration money is at once paid by you to the Commissioner Sanchaita Investments through bank draft or pay order
c That the balance of the consideration money is paid within 30th June 1986
d That in default of payment of the consideration money as stated above the earnest money Rs31500 to be paid by you through bank draft or Pay Order as mentioned above shall stand forfeited
289 e That the aforesaid sale is made on as is where is basis
f That on payment of the full consideration money as above within the date fixed you may take steps for obtaining possession of the said entire premises and the Commissioner will help you for the said purpose
 The Mandais thereafter paid Rs31500 on 27686 and Rs 63000 on 18786 and wrote to the Commissioner as follows Please sent us the draft sale certificate in respect of the above property for our approval on behalf of our clients and arrange immediately to give our clients vacant possession of the property as agreed upon
Please inform us if any objection was received by you in respect of the property pursuant to your advertisement in the Statesman dated March 7 1986
 The Commissioner referred the purchasers to his lawyer in regard to the preparation of the sale certificate and a certificate of sale deed was eventually issued in favour of the Mandais on 1041987
The certificate referred to the orders of the Supreme Court the satisfaction of the Commis sioner the fact of attachment and the absence of any objec tions from Mahamaya Devi and conveyed the property to the Mandals
Having thus purchased the property the Mandais request ed the Commissioner to give them vacant possession of the property but there was no response
Thereupon on 179
1987 the Mandais moved an application being Matter No 373787 before the High Court praying that they may be given vacant possession of the property
It appears that in the meantime they had come to know that the premises were occupied by the following parties Name of person Portion occupied 1
Paul Brothers Textile Division One room on Ground Floor 290 2
Paul Brothers Watch Repairing One room on Ground Floor Division 3
Paul Brothers Electronics do Division 4
Dulal Dutta and Panchanan Dutta do 5
G Dey do 6
Phani Bhusan Ghosh First Floor 7
Hari Narayan Gupta Second Floor These persons were made respondents to the application and alleging that they were all trespassers in occupation of the property a prayer was made that they should be directed to hand over vacant possession of the property to the appli cants
This prayer has been granted by the Division Bench of the High Court and hence these two petitions for leave to appeal one by the three Paul Bros and the other by three of the other four objectors
We have heard these petitions at great length
We grant leave in both SLPs and proceed to dispose of the appeals
The petitioners claim that they are bona fide tenants in the property
Except for petitioner HN Gupta who was inducted as a tenant by Mahamava Devi the others claim that they have been tenants even under the predecessors in inter est of Mahamaya Devi
They clam therefore that they can be evicted only in accordance with due procedure prescribed by law after full contest and opportunity to lead evidence and cannot be thrown out in summary proceedings like the present one just as if they were persons in unauthorised possession of the property or as if they were mere trespassers
On the other hand for the Mandais it is contended that once it is held that Mahamaya Devi was a benamidar for Sanchaita the Commissioner is entitled to take possession of the property removing all present occupants including tenants therein and selling the property at the maximum possible price free of all encumbrances so that the proceeds may be made available to the innumerable depositors who had been denuded of their lifetime savings by the undesirable and fraudulent activi ties of the persons in charge of the firm
A pernicious evil it is said warrants 291 a drastic remedy and hence this Court having regard to the large scale involvements of the firm
considered it neces sary to arm the Commissioner with wide powers so that he may be able to gather in all the real assets of the firm without delay or obstruction for the benefit of the defrauded inves tors
The Mandais have it is said having regard to the terms of the orders passed by this Court and by the Calcutta High Court purchased the property in the belief that they would not only get a perfect title but also speedy posses sion of the property
If bona fide purchasers are to be obstructed like this by all manner of claims real or imagi nary it is argued the properties of the firm can only be sold for a song and the entire object and purpose of the various directions of this Court would be frustrated
It is therefore contended that even if the appellants are really tenants in the property as claimed their claims will have to yield to the paramount public interest of the Sanchaita investors
We are unable to accept this contention of the Mandais
It is not maintainable either in principle or on the terms of the directions given by this Court
To take up the latter first there is nothing in the terms of the orders of this Court or of the notices of attachment or sale or of any other orders of the Calcutta High Court that vests an abso lute title in the auction purchasers of the property free from all encumbrances
The order of the Court dated 27983 only authorised the Commissioner to attach properties which he believed to belong to Sanchaita and provided for any objections to the attachment being heard by the designated Division Bench of the High Court
The attachment and sale of the property presently in question were effected in pursu ance of this order
Any sale transfer encumbrance or alienation subsequent to the attachment could no doubt be impugned but the attachment did not have the legal effect of invalidating earlier interests of others subsisting in the property
In fact also the sale was on an as is where is basis ie without prejudice to the claims of other persons in whose favour bona fide encumbrances or interests may have been created earlier qua the property
There appears to be some force in the contention of the claimants that the price paid by the appellant is not adequate to reflect the market value of the property situated in an important commercial locality in Calcutta at the present day if sold free from all encumbrances but we shall leave this contention out of account as there is no material before us on this aspect
The order of 23985 no doubt goes a step further but it only empowers the Commissioner to remove all unauthorised persons and trespassers
The reference to vacant possession in the order has to be restricted only to 292 cases where the property is in the possession of such unau thorised persons or trespassers and cannot be read so as to empower the Commissioner to evict forcibly or seek the orders of the Court to evict summarily persons who are in lawful possession of the property
We should also like to point out that in fact also the Mandais got no better right on the terms of the auction and the correspondence that followed
Though the Mandais referred in their letters to vacant possession of the property the sale was only on an as is where is basis and the Commissioner at no time offered or assured the Mandais that they would get such vacant possession
He only offered to help them in the process to the extent permissible in law
He has made this position explicit in the letters written by him
Sri Kapur for the Mandais placed considerable reliance on the common order of the Calcutta High Court dated 25386 in Amar Mondal vs Commissioner Matter No 122 of 1986 and Jagdish Chand Aggarwala vs Commissioner Matter No 146 of 1985 to contend that the Mandais are entitled to get vacant possession of the property
In that case Amar Mondal who was the auction purchaser of an item of property which we shall call Property A  at a sale by the Commissioner sought to be put into possession by evicting the respondents 2 to 5 who are unauthorised occupants and Jagdish Chand Aggarwala whose highest bid at an auction for an item of property which we shall call Property B  by the Commis sioner could not be proceeded with because of an injunction obtained by respondents Nos 6  7 sought the orders of the Court for completing the sale and giving delivery of pos session by evicting the respondents
So far as Property A is concerned the Court found for reasons which need not be repeated here that they were unauthorised occupants and notbona fide tenants in occupation and were hence liable to be evicted
Likewise in respect of Property B the Court concluded that the claims or  tenancy put forward by re spondents 6  7 were frivolous
These were therefore not cases where tenants were held liable to be evicted and the order does not help the Mandais to the extent claimed
Sri Kapur however relies strongly on two sets of observations in this order
the first reference by him is to an observation that any person claiming to have any interest in the property should file his claim within 30 days of the attachment and that any claim made beyond this period would be barred by limitation and hence cannot be considered
The second reference is to an observation that the Court is 293 entitled to adjudicate  upon all claims even those of persons who claim to have any bona fide intermediate inter ests in the properties attached by the Commissioner
The Court observed In our opinion therefore once an attachment is effected by the Commissioner on the authority of his powers vested in him by the Supreme Court not only persons claim ing right title and interest independent of Sanchaita Investments but also claiming any bona fide intermediate interest created by Sanchaita Investments in favour of the claimant should put forward to claim of objection
It was not the intention of the Supreme Court that there should be proliferation of litigation result whereof would be that the insignificant part of the depositors  money which should be realised by the Commissioner would be wasted in litiga tion
This position has been made clear by the Supreme Court when the Supreme Court by a recent order upheld the view of the Bombay High Court that a claim of tenancy in respect of a property attached by the Commissioner must be lodged with this Special Bench and not before any ordinary Civil Court
The attachment made by the Commissioner cannot be equated with an attachment made by a Civil Court either prior to judgment or in execution since there what is attached is the right title and interest of either the defendant on the judgment debtor
In the present case however on the Scheme framed by the Supreme Court what is being attached is the property itself so that any body having any lawful claim in whatever interest held by him must put forward his claim before the Commissioner so that it can be adjudicated once for all in a proceeding before this Special Bench and thus avoid wasting litigation
We do not accept for a moment that this court s jurisdiction is limited to adjudication of all claims preferred as against the attachment made by the Commissioner
The scope of our power must be determined with reference to the intention of the Supreme Court referred to herein
Such power in our opinion covers adjudication of all sorts of claims or objections for the Commissioner s at tachment and sales of assets belonging to the beneficial ownership of Sanchaita Investment preferred or brought forward at any stage and also to make all inci 294 dental and consequential orders as we may find necessary to assist the Commissioner in collecting the assets having regard to the resistance faced by him from persons putting forward any claim of his own
In that view we hold that our power covers a case like the present one where even after the objection has been overruled by this Court others have come forward to resist the Commissioner from effecting sale by putting forward a claim of tenancy
Such a claim in our opinion is really an objection to the attachment when we consider it on its substance that comes well within the scope of our jurisdiction
It matters little whether such jurisdiction is invoked by the Commissioner or the claimant or the proposed purchaser He submitted on the strength of these passages that the claims in the present case are liable to be dismissed a on the ground that they are time barred and b even if the claimants are found to be bona fide tenants in the property
We are unable to agree
While no doubt this Court had indicated that claims and objections to attachments should be filed within a period of thirty days that period cannot be read as if were a rigid rule of limitation prescribed by law
The order also only says that if objections are not put forward within a month the property may be sold and does not preclude objections being filed after the sale
Indeed the Division Bench did not rest its conclusion on this ground and proceeded to consider the objections on merits
We are also unable to read into the order any con clusion of the Division Bench that even bona fide tenants are liable to be evicted from the property
If that had been so the Bench need not have gone into a detailed considera tion of the merits of the claim of tenancy put forward by the contesting respondents in that case
All that the Bench observed in the passage extracted above was that all claim ants to the properties subjected to attachment by the Com missioner whether as owners or as intermediate interest holders like tenants or otherwise have to put forward their claims for adjudication by the Division Bench
The Bench did not proceed to hold as suggested by Sri Kapur that the auction purchasers are entitled to get vacant possession of the property free from all encumbrances and that even bona fide tenants can be directed to be summarily evicted from the property in pursuance of the 295 orders of this Court
We are unable to see in this order any observation that could legitimately have induced the Mandais to believe that they would be entitled to evict even lawful tenants from the property by purchasing it at the auction sale
In principle also this contention is not well founded
The object of the directions given by this Court was to cut short the proliferation of litigation and to ensure that the Commissioner is able to gather in expeditiously the assets of Sanchaita which were dissipated or siphoned off by the persons in charge of the firm
Thus if the firm s moneys had been utilised to purchase properties in the name of various individuals benami such property had to be taken back by the Commissioner from such benamidars
Also where the said benamidars or other persons put up frivolous claims to the property or its possession without the semblance of any legal title to its ownership or possession such claims could and should be rejected by the Court
But this princi ple cannot apply to bona fide interests of others in the property
For instance suppose Sanchaita s moneys had been advanced on the mortgage of an item of immovable property all that the Commissioner would be entitled legally and equitably would be to call in the mortgage moneys princi pal and interest and not the entire property itself
An auction purchaser of such a property cannot get anything higher than the interest Sanchaita itself could have claimed in respect of the property
Likewise if Sanchiata s moneys had been invested in a property which had been bona fide let out to tenants Sanchaita would have paid only the value of the property so encumbered and its rights in the property can only be subject to those tenancy rights
Sanchaita could not have a right in respect of the property superior to that which its vendor had
Similar would be the position where Sanchaita or its benamidars had after acquiring a property created a bona fide tenancy or other encumbrance in respect of that property in respect of independant outsiders who acquire such interest for consideration
To say that San chaita through the Commissioner would be entitled to vacant possession even from such tenants or free from such encumbrances would result in its being able to realise a larger interest in the property than it acquired
Not only this the result of any such conclusion would ensure the benefit of not Sanchaita but of the auction purchaser of the property
Having bid for and acquired the right title and interest of Sanchaita in the property he would be enable to get vacant possession which Sanchiata even if it had continued to be active and properous could not have got except by due process of law
296 We have therefore no doubt that this Court by its orders dated 4583 and 27983 intended only that the firm or the auction purchasers at the sales effected by the Commission ers should be able to clear the property of trespassers and unauthorised persons and not that even bona fide tenants could be got evicted straight away in pursuance thereof
Normally even trespassers and unauthorised persons cannot be thrown out except by recourse to legal proceedings but having regard to the large scale dealings the special circumstances and the desperate situation this Court made an exception and made it possible for the Commissioner to get false and frivolous claimants out of the way by a quick procedure but nothing more
We are therefore of opinion that if the Court on a consideration of the materials placed by the claimants or objectors comes to the conclu sion that they are not mere stooges or false claimants but have a bona fide fight to possession as against Sanchaita it cannot direct their eviction but should leave it to the auction purchaser to initiate such eviction proceedings in the normal course and in accordance with law as may be available to him against the claimantsobjectors
Sri Kapur laid considerable stress on the aspect that unless vacant possession can be had no one will purchase any property at the auction sales conducted by the Commis sioner as no one would like to face further litigation to secure possession of the property
He submitted that the object which the Court had in mind was to effectuate sales of Sanchaita properties by assuring vacant possession with a view to secure maximum price therefore and to ensure expedi tious return to the Sanchaita investors of as much of their deposits as possible and that this object would be totally frustrated if people were encouraged to put in hurdles in the way which will depreciate the value of the property
This contention proceeds only partially on a correct basis
It is true that there should be a quick and expedi tious realisation of the properties that really belong to Sanchaita
That is why the Court empowered the Commissioner to attach and sell properties that in his opinion really belong to Sanchaita though ostensibly held in the names of others and also devised a quick and summary method for adjudication upon claims and removal of obstructions
But this order cannot be availed of to ride rough shod over the rights and interests of others in the properties which have been created bona fide
Third parties who have acquired real interests in the property either independent of or even through Sanchaita cannot be called upon to give up their rights
To do so would be to do more than merely realise what 297 rightfully belongs to Sanchaitas it would amount to confer ring on Sanchaita a better title than it had in fact acquired
The depositors or investors in Sanchaita cannot claim any such rights
It is therefore difficult to accept the ground urged by Sri Kapoor as entitling the Mandais to an interest that can ignore or override all manner of rights and interests in the auctioned properties
For the above reasons we are unable to accept the plea that the Mandais are entitled to get vacant possession of the premises irrespective of the nature of the interests the claimants had therein and that on this ground alone we should uphold the order of the Division Bench
We shall therefore proceed to consider how far the claim of each one of the appellants before us to continue in possession of the property unless and until evicted in due course by process of law is maintainable
Though the High Court has set out in extenso the details of the claims put forward by the various claimants we consider it necessary to set out in some detail the evi dence put forward by the claimants as the principal com plaint of every one of the claimants is that a considerable volume of evidence adduced by him has been summarily brushed aside by the Division Bench
We shall therefore proceed to do this 1
PAUL BROTHERS The petitioners in SLP 325859 have described themselves as Paul Brothers
A complete paper book containing copies of a number of documents has been placed before us to sub stantiate their claim that they have been tenants in the premises since a very long time
These are 1 A letter addressed by one Ramakrishna Paul to Dilip Kumar Paul and Mihir Kumar Paul Landlords seeking permis sion to make some alterations in the Radio and Electrical shop and a reply thereto dated 8475 by Dilip and a similar reply to Amar Nath Paul Paul Brothers in respect of the watch repairing shop 298 2 A letter intimating Amar Nath Paul Paul Bros Re pairing Shop that Satyanarayan Paul had died on 10866 and that the four signatories Ashok Paul Dilip Kumar Paul Mihir Kumar Paul and Mrs Suchitra Kundu had succeeded as landlords entitled to the rents thereafter 3a A stamped deed of partnership dated 14661 drawn up by BM Motilal Advocate between Amar Nath Paul Robindra Nath Paul
Abani Bhushan Paul Arun Kumar Paul Kiron Chan dra Paul and Gopal Chandra Paul all sons of Mohni Mohan Paul sharing profits equally
The firm is said to have started business in Watch Repairing and Tailoring wef 14461 at the suit premises under the name and style of Paul Bros and is said to have been registered with the Registrar of Firms
b Three stamped deeds of partnership drawn by BM Motilal Advocate and dated 25475 have also been produced
The first of these of Paul Brothers Watch Division Amar Nath Paul RobindraNath Paul shows Abani Bhushan Paul and Rama Kishore Paul sons of Mohni Mohan Paul as having started and been carrying on business as watch dealers and repairers since 15474 in the premises sharing profits equally with out a formal deed till then
The second is of Paul Brothers Radio and Electrical Division in which Kiron Chandra Paul Amiya Kumar Paul Samir Kumar Paul Amar Nath Paul sons of Mohni Mohan Paul and Shyama Ran jan Paul son of Lalit Mohan Paul are partners with Amar Nath having a 10 share and the others 225 share each
The deed recites that the above partnership started a business in radio and electri cals on 15474 at the suit premises as well as at 1951 Mahatma Gandhi Road Calcutta without a formal deed having been drawn up till that date
The third deed is between Arun Kumar Paul Benoy Kumar Paul Gopal Chandra Paul and Amar Nath Paul all sons of Mohni Mohan Paul in respect of Paul Brothers Tailoring Division with Amar Nath Paul having a 10 share and the others 30 each
This deed also recites that the business had started earlier with effect 299 from 15474 but that no formal deed had been drawn up till then
c A deed of partnership dated 85
1980 also on stamp paper and witnessed by BM Motilal is between Kiran Chan dra Paul Amiya Kumar Paul Samir Kumar Paul sons of Mohni Mohan Paul and Promotho Nath Paul son of Lalit Mohan Paul
By this deed Shama Ranjan and Amar Nath retire from Paul Brothers Radio and Electricals wef 13480 leaving the remaining four to share the profits equally
4 More than 225 rent receipts in favour of Amar Nath Paul Amar Nath Paul and others or Amar Nath Paul Paul Brothers have been produced
They are spread over the period from 1962 to November 1987 except October 1965 to March 1968
They are signed by SN Pal between May 1962 and September 1965 by Ashok Paul between April 1968 and October 1971 by Dilip and Mihir between October 1971 and September 1977 and by Mahamaya Devi from October 1977 onwards
Rent receipts from April 1962 to September 1987 in favour of Amar Nath Paul Amar Nath Paul Paul Bros Watch Makers Shop have been produced
Also copies of rent receipts in favour of Ramkrishna Paul Ramakrishna Paul and others in respect of one shop room in the north west corner covering the period from March 1974 onwards signed by Dilip and Mihir and Mahamaya Devi are also produced
5 Rent receipts and a deposit receipt showing that a third shop situated in the north west corner of the ground floor previously occupied by one Tarak Nath Roy was taken over by the Paul Bros at a rent of Rs75 pm in December 1973 after purchasing the assets of the earlier tenant for Rs200
6 Three electricity bills of October 69 January 75 and 300 May 88 in respect of the premises issued in the name of one DP Paul claimed to be an uncle of the Pauls and Electric ity bills in the name of Paul Bros Radio Division of April 80 and April 88 have also been produced
7 Three telephone bills of 1969 1973 and 1977 in the name of Paul Brothers and three electricity bills of March 74 March 77 and February 88 in the name of Tarak Nath Roy have been produced
8 Receipts dated 2561 10562 7563 25372 and 281287 by the Corporation of Calcutta being fees in re spect of the Tailoring Shop in the premises for the years 1961 62 1962 63 1963 64 1971 72 and 1987 88 in favour of Paul Bros Partners Sri Arun Kumar Paul and others
Corpo ration Receipts  18 in number for trade licence fees in respect of radio and watch business carried on in the prem ises covering the years 1962 63 to 1987 88 except 1984 85 1981 82 1980 81 1975 76 1972 73 and 1971 72 in the name of Paul Bros are produced
These describe the partners of the firm differently as Amiya Paul and others Arun Kumar Paul and others and Amar Nath Paul and others 7 fee receipts for trade licences issued to the watch division of Paul Bros covering the years 1987 88 1986 87 1985 86 1983 84 1982 83 1981 82 1980 81 1979 80 1978 79 1977 78 1976 77 1975 76 and 1974 75 describe the partners as Rabindra Nath Paul and others
There are also fee receipts in respect of licence fees for the years 1961 62 1971 72 1972 73 1987 88 in respect of the watch repairing shop in the name of Paul Bros Amar Nath Paul  Others
9 A letter dated 17770 addressed by the Government of West Bengal to the Accountant General copy endorsed to Ms Paul Brothers at the address of the suit premises and other correspondence between 1970 and 1973 with the tailoring division of the said firm at the same address
Copies of two letters addressed to the radio and watches 301 shop of Paul Bros at this address between July 1965 have also been produced
10 Challans for payment of self assessment tax of Rs 190 for assessment year 1976 77 by Paul Brothers Tailoring Division on 12876 from this address
Also produced are certificates from the Income Tax Department that the three Paul Bros at the above address are being assessed to income tax since assessment year 1975 761976 77
11 Orders us 158 and demand notices us 156 of the In come tax Act in respect of assessment years 1969 70 1968 69 1967 68 have been produced the former of which evi dences the constitution of Paul Bros A declaration have been filed before a Presidency Magistrate Calcutta on 26865 by some of the Pauls referred to above to the effect that they are the partners in the firm from 14461 and that they have filed income tax returns for three years
The declaration also states 2
That we have been carrying on business as tailors watch repairers and sellers of cut piece cloth and watches from 1st day of Baisakh 1368 BS and also we have started radio manufacturingsalesservice department from second year of our business ie 1369 B S
We have no other business save and except those mentioned in this paragraph this is true to our knowledge
12 Documents showing the registration of the following firms with the Registrar of Firms Date Firm 10174 Paul Bros Watch Division 10674 Paul Bros Radio and Electrical Division 20961 Paul Bros 302 13 A central excise licence dated 2011965 and a postal department licence of 24862 in respect of the radio and electrical shop in the name of Paul Bros with Shri Kitart Chandra Paul as a partner
14 Several letters notices receipts etc
from the In cometax Department and Central Excise Department as well as correspondence from the Life Insurance Corporation of India and premium receipts have been produced but these are not of much help except to show that they were addressed to Paul Bros or Arun Kumar Paul or Rabindra Kumar Paul or Amar Nath Paul or AK Paul or Amarendra Nath Paul and others or Abani Bhushan Paul or Kiran Chandra Paul or Gopal Chandra Paul at the suit premises
15 Extracts from the assessment registers of the Corpora tion of Calcutta for two years
The first of these shows the name of the owner as Avamoyee Paul and that of the occupier as Taraknath Roy and others
Endorsements thereon show the calculation of the annual value on the basis of the follow ing rents Rs pm I Tarak Nath Roy 2500 Panchanan Dutta 2500 Watch Shop 4100 Tailoring Shop 4400 750 750 II Phani Bhusan Ghose 4500 III Owner 4500 24000 The second of these documents shows the name of the owner as Estate of Avamoyee Paul Co Shri Mihir Paul 303 and Brothers but this is struck off and replaced by Smt
Mahamaya Devi In the premises
Against the column occu pants the name of Taraknath Roy and others is replaced by Smt
Mahamaya Devi and others
This extract also contains what apparently are later endorsements of details as fol lows RS Road Side Shops Rent pm
I Ramakrishna Paul says 75 Goldsmith Radio Amarnath Paul  48 Tailoring Paul Bros  48 Goldsmith Panchanan  44 Dutta Dulal Dutta 2
DULAL CHANDRA DUTTA The tenancy in respect of a backside shop on the ground floor is claimed as having belonged initially to two per sons Panchanan and Dulal Dutta
Of these Panchanan Dutta appears to have died in 1981 and it is only Dulal Dutta who is the claimant now
He states that the property belonged to Satya Narain Paul then to Dilip Kumar Paul and Mihir Kumar Paul and then to Mahamaya Devi
In the case of this claimant there is no direct evidence of tenancy in the form of a rent deed or rental agreement
About 51 rent receipts have been produced but all these receipts purport to have been issued only by Mahamaya Devi
No receipts have been produced for any earlier period though the claimant says he has been tenant of the property since 1973 it is stated that the rent receipts issued in the joint names by Dilip Kumar Paul and Mihir Kumar Paul are missing from his custody
The High Court has said that there are several inconsistencies defects and errors in the receipts that had been produced and though a number of other documents have been placed before us here none of these receipts or copies thereof have been produced
According to the claimant s affidavit filed before the High Court he started his work as a gold smith in the premises in 1973 the tenancy of which stood in the name of one Panchanan Dutta and that he also contributed rents to 304 Panchanan Dutta who used to pay the rents in his name to the owner of the premises
No receipts in the joint names of Panchanan Dutta and the claimant have been produced
The extracts from the records of the Corporation referred to earlier show Panchanan Dutta as the occupant and the claim ant s name does not figure therein
The claim of tenancy is however sought to be established by the following docu ments a A certificate of the Gold Control Authority of 1976 recognising the claimant as a goldsmith with his place of business and residence at 6 Doctor s Lane Calcutta subse quently shifted to the suit premises wef 41181 b A certificate from the Bangia Swarna Silpi Smithi dated 12875 showing the claimant s place of work at the suit premises and a letter of 13111987 from the Samithi stating that the claimant has been maintaining a Khata under the Gold Control Act from 1976 c A petition for remand by the police dated 18975 in connection with a criminal case showing the claimant s address at the suit premises d A search list of 23975 on complaint No 657 us 380 IPC showing that certain items were seized from Dulal Dutta s shop in the suit premises and a petition from the prosecution seeking impleadment of Dulal Dutta of the suit premises as a co accused in connection with the above case e A letter from the Police of a complaint from the Corpo ration against the claimant for not having obtained a trade licence for 1979 80 in time and a municipal licence fee receipt dated 191280 in respect of the year 1978 79 issued by the Corporation of Calcutta in favour of the claimant and Panchanan Dutta f A summons issued by the Corporation to the claimant on 305 6281 showing his address as at the suit premises and g A letter dated 10681 by the claimant to the Superin tendent Central Excise asking for a change of address from Doctor s Lane to the suit premises
h An extract got in 1988 from the assessment book of the Corporation which shows Smt
Mahamaya Devi as the owner and Shri Phani Bhusan Ghose Shri Amarnath Paul and Shri Dulal Dutta as the occupants
This purports to be the entry with effect from 366 67 to 488
PHANI BHUSAN GHOSH Phani Bhusan Ghosh who claims tenancy in respect of the first floor of the suit premises comprising of three bed rooms and one sitting room besides other conveniences
Ghosh is a retired Government servant
He claims to have been inducted as a tenant in 1948 by Satyanarayan Paul at a monthly rent of Rs75 pm
According to him on the death of Satyanarayan his son Ashok Paul used to grant rent re ceipts thereafter consequent on a partition among the heirs of Satyanarayan Dilip Kumar Paul and Mihir Kumar Paul used to issue the receipts until in October 1977 they sold the suit premises to Mahamaya Devi
Though it iS not clear whether there was any original tenancy agreement in 1948 and no rent receipts of that time have been produced the claim ant relied on the following documents in support of the plea of tenancy a A photo copy of a certified copy of the plaint in Eject ment Suit No 109561 filed by Satyanarayan Paul against the claimant for eviction and khas possession which recites that the claimant was a tenant of Satyanarayan in respect of the premises Incidentally the schedule to this deed refers to Taraknath Roy Panchanan Dutta Dulal K Dey and Amarnath Paul Paul Bros as the tenants on the ground floor
b An undated letter from Dilip Kumar Paul and Mihir Kumar 306 Paul informing the claimant of the sale of the Premises to Mahamaya Devi and a letter dated 91077 from Prabir Kar an Advocate on behalf of Mahamaya Devi asking claimant to attorn to Mahamaya Devi as she had purchased the property from the two Pauls d Three receipts issued by Ashok Paul in 1969 three issued by Dilip and Mihir in 1971 1976 and 1977 and two issued by Mahamaya Devi for July  78 and September  87 e A certificate dated 41
1988 from the Geological Survey of India stating that the address of the claimant had been recorded on 20352 in its official records as being at the suit premises
HARI NARA YAN GUPTA This person claims tenancy in the second floor
One feature that distinguishes this claimant from others is that he claims to have been a tenant in the property under Maha maya Devi since 1982
The plea of Gupta is that he became a tenant of the flat on the second floor under Mahamaya Devi on a rent of Rs350 pm vide an agreement dated 711982 and that he had been regularly paying the rent to her ever since upto September 1987
The agreement produced is an unregistered agreement
There are only two rent receipts dated January 1983 and September 1987 produced in support of the claim
The photostat copies of the extract from the records of the Corporation which have been referred to earlier show the occupants as Mahamaya Devi and then one Harindra Nath Chakraborty
HN Gupta claims to be running a tea stall on SP Banerjee Road and to have taken this premises on rent
We shall now consider the claims of each of these claim ants individually starting with Hari Narayan Gupta
Hari Narayan Gupta Sri Kapur contended that since it has now been finally decided 307 that Mahamaya Devi never really owned the premises herself she could not have validly created a tenancy in favour of Gupta
We do not think this conclusion necessarily follows
It is true that the finding that Mahamaya Devi was only a benamidar for Sanchaita has become final but it does not follow that any tenancy created by her is invalid unless it can be shown that in creating such interest she acted in breach of trust and contrary to the interest of Sanchaita
If she had put Gupta in possession of the property as her stooge or if Gupta had taken the property from her on rent collusively or with full knowledge that the property really belonged to Sanchaitas the position would be different but if Gupta is an independent third party with no such notice or intention and had been inducted by her as a tenant bona fide all the Sanchaita can claim is that she should account to firm for the rents derived by her from the property in the past and that the firm or the Commissioner or the auc tion purchaser should be entitled to the rents from the property as from the date of its attachment by the Commis sioner
Examining the facts and the evidence from the perspec tive it does seem that Gupta has not been able to adduce any evidence to satisfactorily establish that he was a bona fide tenant under Mahamaya Devi
It is difficult to believe that this tea stall owner took the suit premises on a rent of Rs350 from Mahamaya Devi
There is no consistent or satisfactory evidence of such tenancy
We are inclined to agree with the conclusion of the High Court that Gupta was not a bona fide tenant in the property as claimed and that he is liable to evicted from the premises
Dulal Dutta Turning next to the case of Dulal Dutta we have gone through the documents placed before us carefully and are constrained to observe that this claimant has also not been able to establish his bona fide tenancy of the premises
The original trade licence shows that the claimant had started his business at No 6 Doctor s Lane and that this was got changed to the address presently in question only in 1981 but according to him he had started working at the suit premises even in 1973
The police remand papers and corpora tion notices no doubt indicate that the claimant was found at this address in 1975 and 1978 308 79 but these papers are not sufficient to establish the claimant s plea of tenancy
Admittedly even according to him
Panchanan Dutta was originally the tenant of the prem ises and the claimant seems to have had some working ar rangement with him Panchanan Dutta is said to have died sometime in 1981 and the change of address for excise pur poses seems to show that the claimant moved into the prem ises wholly thereafter
But the question is not whether the claimant was in occupation of the premises but whether he was a bona fide tenant therein
As to this there is no proof or evidence except the few odd rent receipts purport edly issued by Mahamaya Devi the genuineness of which has not been accepted by the High Court
It was argued that even if Dulal Dutta is treated as a sub tenant or as being in adverse possession the landlords  right to evict him would be time barred
But neither of these stands was taken by Dulal Dutta and his adverse possession even if claimed could not have started before 1981 and so no question of time bar could arise
In the circumstances we are con strained to uphold the findings of the Division Bench in respect of the portion of the suit premises occupied by Dulal Dutta 3
Phani Bhusan Ghose We next turn to the case of Phani Bhusan Ghose
On behalf of the Mandals it is submitted that the pieces of evidence relied on by the claimant amount to nothing
Sri Kapur submits that as per the extracts from the Corporation records filed in the case one Avamoyee Paul was the owner of the premises in 1948 and there is nothing to show that either Satyanarayan Paul or his legal heirs were ever the owners of the property
The partition deed has not been produced
The rent receipts produced contain lacunae errors and inconsistencies
The genuineness of the receipts and the letters produced is not accepted
Advocate Prabir Kar who is alleged to have sent the attornment notice is alleged to be a reputed agent of Sanchaitas
So far as the plaint of 1961 is concerned he points out there is no explanation given as to what made the claimant obtain a certified copy of the plaint in 1972 and there is also no evidence as to the outcome of the suit
The records of the Geological Survey had not been summoned and it is also curious that the claimant has produced a certificate of 1988 to show the claimant s address in 1952 but not his recent or present address as recorded therein
We are of opinion that these objections cannot be sustained
309 Leaving aside the rent receipts and other correspondence the authenticity of which cannot be taken for granted there is enough evidence to sustain the claim of the applicant
The certified copy of the plaint shows that Ghosh was tenant of the first floor under Satya Narayan Paul who claimed to be the owner of the premises
It does not show that he was tenant since 1948 but read with the certificate of the Geological Survey of India it does show that Ghosh was the tenant between 1952 and 1961 in the premises
No foundation has been laid and no material has been adduced to show that the copy of the plaint is not genuine or cannot be acted upon or that there was no such suit in 1961 between the parties as alleged
What happened to the suit or what de fence was raised by Ghosh to the suit is irrelevant in the absence of any suggestion or any material to indicate that Ghosh had been in fact evicted in pursuance of the order passed in the suit by the date of the present proceedings
There is also no information placed before us as to the persons who were the legal representatives of Avomoyee Paul or that Dilip and Mihir did not at all because the owners of the property
On the other hand the extract from the Corpo ration records at the relevant time shows the owner of the premises to be Estate of Avamoyee Paul co Sri Mihir Paul and Bros This indicates a connection of Mihir Paul with the premises and the sale deed of 1977 the genuineness of which is not
and cannot be in dispute for that verily is the basis of the title of Sanchaita to the property in question shows that she purchased it from Mihir and Dilip
It is of course theoretically possible that Ghosh had been evicted from the premises by Satyanarayan and that the receipts produced from Dilip and Mihir as well as the letters of authority produced are not genuine
But this is a far reach ing assumption and it cannot be presumed that all these are got up documents in the absence of some foundation or material for the suggestion
In our opinion the claimant has let in sufficient material to show that he was a tenant in the premises long before Mahamaya Devi entered into the picture
Paul Brothers Now turning to the case of Paul Brothers our narration above shows that there was a mass of evidence adduced by the parties in 310 support of their tenancy in the premises since long
The grievance of these and indeed also the other claimants has been that the High Court has failed to apply its mind to the evidence produced in support of each of the claimants
It is submitted that an analysis of the judgment of the High Court which runs to 52 pages will show that the High Court after setting out the preliminary facts the contents of the affidavits counter affidavits and rejoinder affidavits and the contentions of the respective counsel in great detail has disposed of the entire case with the following observa tions appearing on the last page of the judgment On the basis of the intrinsic evidence and when the Corpo ration  records produced on behalf of the Respondents being incompatible with the rent receipts their inherent inconsistencies do not appear to us to be trust worthy it would appear that the submissions of Mrs Paul regarding the character and quality of rent receipts as produced now were of substance and we also feel that the story of tenan cies were subsequently sought to be established for the purpose of avoiding the effect of the auction sale and that too not in a bona fide manner
We are of the confirmed opinion that in terms of the determinations of the Hon ble Supreme Court of India as followed earlier by a Special Division Bench of this court in Jagadish Agarwalla s case supra this court is not so powerless to make orders in terms of the prayers as made in the petition and that too in the facts of the present case and as such we allow this application and direct the Respondent Commissioner to take such steps so that forthwith vacant possession of the said premises is handed over to the petitioners ie the purchas ers in the auction sale
We also have it on record that if necessary the Respondent Commissioner would also be enti tled to take appropriate Police help and assistance in having Respondent Nos 2 8 removed from their claimed occu pation of the said premises or to break open any padlock which is there or which has been put in now
 It is submitted that the High Court does not discuss why and in what respects the Corporation records are inconsistent with the rent 311 receipts what the inherent detects and inconsistencies were in the rent receipts produced and why the story of tenancies is considered to be an after thought
There is also no reason given for the rejection of the innumerable other pieces of evidence produced by the claimants
On the other hand the complaint of Sri Kapur has been that the claimants Paul Brothers in particular had been placing documents before the Courts in driblets
Most of these were in the nature of Xerox copies with no guarantee of their authenticity
He points out that the entire collec tion of receipts purporting to be from Satyanarayan Paul Ashok Paul and Dilip and Mihir not to speak of Mahamaya Devi could easily have been written up for the purposes of the case
In his submission they have indeed been so writ ten up at one or more sittings and these are revealed by the inconsistencies and discrepancies some of which have been pointed out before the High Court by Mandal s counsel and referred in the judgment
It is unfair argues Sri Kapur to say that the Division Bench has not applied to the facts of the individual cases
These having been fully brought out in the earlier parts of the judgment with special reference to the defects pointed out and criticisms made by the counsel for Mandals the High Court did not consider it necessary to repeat the same again m the concluding part of the judgment
He says that the Division Bench had occasion to deal with similar claims in regard to various other properties and has assessed the entire evidence in the light of its experience regarding the various devices employed to put forward osten sible third parties as obstructors
The criticism that the judgment High Court s reasoning is brief and cryptic he submits is based on a total misconception and should be rejected
Sri Kapur then drew our attention to the  infirmities in the case put forward by the claimants both procedural and substantive
He says that it is only in this Court for the first time and that too after this Court called upon them to do so that the Paul Brothers have attempted to put forward a chronological version of the history of tenancy of the three shops allegedly taken on rent by them
Earlier they merely produced a few receipts and correspondence in the name of Paul Brothers a convenient label enabling them to explain away documents of different dates in the names of different persons who were all Pauls and to create a confusion between Avamoyee Paul shown originally in the municipal records Satyanarayan Paul and his 312 alleged relatives Dilip and Mihir and the different Pauls who were alleged to be partners in Paul Brothers on differ ent dates
Also many documents such as the income tax and customs department notices assessment and certificates have been produced in this Court and were not produced  before the High Court
Per contra certain documents such as the first affidavit dated 141187 the 1974 partnership deeds and a letter dated 5475 from Ram Krishan Paul to the landlords produced before the High Court have been deliber ately suppressed from this Court
Sri Kapur submits that the most crucial circumstances in the present case is that the objections of Mahamaya Devi to the attachment and sale of the property did not contain even the whisper of a sugges tion that there were not one or two but as many as seven tenants in the property
If this had been a fact he says she would not have failed to say so emphatically in her objections
Sri Kapur points out that the basic case of all the claimants is that the premises originally belonged to one Satyanarayan Paul that on his death five persons inher ited the property that on partition among them the property came to Dilip and Mihir mentioned perhaps wrongly as Dulal Chandra Paul in the affidavit of 1411
1987 who conveyed the property to Mahamaya Devi
The whole edifice crumbles he points out as even according to the municipal extracts produced by the claimants neither Satyanarayan Paul nor Dilip and Mihir have been ever recorded as the owners of the property
The version of undated attornment letters partition and Prabir Kar s letter was not attempted to be proved by producing even an affidavit from Dilip or Mihir or Prabir Kar
Even an affidavit from Mahamaya Devi is conspicuous by its absence
Above all says Sri Kapur the case of the claimants regarding the constitution and nature of business of Paul Bros and the evidence in support there of as put forward at various stages bristles with inaccura cies and inconsistencies which justify its rejection
These were pointed out before the High Court in detail and have been set out in the judgment
Some of these are as follows The business has sometimes been described as one business SLP and affidavit of 21188 and sometimes affidavit of 141187 as separate businesses with separate partners and separate deeds of partnership
The date of commencement of each of these businesses have been set out differently in the different affidavits and go back to 1958 1959 1962 and 1973
These do not talks with the partner ship deeds of 1974 which shows the businesses as having started only on 15474 which in 313 turn is belied by the production of a deed of 1961
The names of the partners are also not given consistently
While Ramakrishna Paul is a partner of the radio and tailoring firms as per the affidavit of 2788 he is not one as per the affidavit of 141187
So also KC Paul is a partner of the tailoring firm according to 1988 affidavit but is not according to the earlier one 2 In the affidavit dated 141187 the claimants had stated that they had been able to locate after great effort a few municipal trade licences and produced eight of them
But late r with the second affidavit they produced a few more
How this has been done has not been explained 3 It is not explained how the electricity bills stand in the name of Taraknath Roy and DP Paul and how the electricity bill in the name of Paul Brothers dated 13380 shows an electricity connection having been obtained for the premises only on that date though the claimants were said to have been running the business there since 1973 4 The telephone bills again are not helpful
They contain the name of one MS Paul for which no explanation has been given
One of the bills shows the installation of telephone in the premises even in 1958 though according to the claimants the business in the premises started earliest only in 1959
Also the bills give the number of the premises as No 5211 and not 5211B 5 The rent receipts have been produced in driblets six with the affidavit of 1987 and 44 with the affidavit of July 1988 while with the SLP only 17 rent receipts have been annexed
Some of the receipts date back earlier than 1974 though according to the partnership deeds the business of the firms commenced only in April 1974
The rent receipts bear almost continuous serial numbers
There are several discrepancies for example a receipt dated 6877 bears No 59 whereas one dated 10677 bears No 60 and there are two rent receipts for July 1977
The rent receipts in favour of Paul Bros Electricals are in the 314 name of RK Paul who is not a partner therein according to the deed and who is referred to in the Corporation records as a goldsmith
There is no rent receipt from Avamoyee Paul or her estate and Satyanarayan Paul Ashok Paul Dilip Paul or Mihir Paul are not recorded as owners
There is not a single affidavit by any of the signatories to the receipts vouching for their genuineness 6i There is no effort by these three or the other claimants to pay the rents after the attachment of the premises either to the Commissioner or to the Mandals
Their case that they did not know about the attachments was false 7 There is no difference between the case of the claimants in the cases of Amar Mandal and Jagdish Prasad Agarwalla and that of the various claimants herein
We have carefully considered the contentions of the parties
It is true that some of the grounds of criticism of the evidence produced by the claimants are valid
A certain amount of difficulty has been caused by the uncer tainty as the nature of the proceedings conducted by the High Court in pursuance of the order of this Court
It appears that the Court has produced to consider the issues in a summary manner on the basis of the affidavits of the claimants and on prima facie consideration of the documents formally as well as informally produced in support thereof
The enquiry has been somewhat analogous to the procedure which used to be adopted in disposing of petitions by ob structors under the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 before its amendment in 1976 which concluded in a tentative find ing leaving it open to the parties to file a suit and estab lish their right to possession
On the other hand if these are taken to be in the nature of proceedings for the execu tion of a decree under the amended code there will have to be a more detailed trial with full opportunity to parties to lead evidence and to examine and cross examine witnesses as a finding reached in these proceedings would be final and conclusive
In the present case the application has been disposed of somewhat summarily and informally
At one stage therefore we were inclined to think that the matter so far as the Pauls are concerned should be remanded to the High Court for fresh disposal
But on further consideration we have come to the 315 conclusion that there is sufficient material placed on record by the claimants to show that Paul Bros have been in the premises as tenants since long and that no such remand is necessary
Taking all the documents collectively it is difficult to say that one could reasonably arrive at the conclusion that the Pauls were trespassers or unauthorised occupants
The Mandals have done nothing positive to estab lish this but to barely deny the genuineness of the various documents put forward on behalf of the claimants
One direct piece of evidence is the extract from the municipal records
It was suggested that the photostats produced could not be relied upon and that the entries therein could have been reproduced by some process of super imposition
However it has been found that apart from the photostat copies the original records were summoned certi fied extracts produced by the representative of the Corpora tion have been taken on record
These extracts which relate to the relevant period show the Paul Bros as tenants in the three shops
It is true that the estate of Avamoyee Paul has been shown as the landlords but the entry contains a refer ence to Mihir Paul and admittedly Mahamaya Devi purchased the property from Dilip and Mihir
Letters calling for attornment and rent receipts galore have been produced
Though one cannot eschew the possibility of these being got up documents some foundation must be laid by the Mandals to reject them other than a mere assertion that they are not genuine
The discrepancies suggested are few and minor and do not warrant the summary rejection of the large number of receipts
The electricity bills phone bills tax department correspondence likewise prima facie support the claim of the appellants
The mistakes pointed out in the telephone and electricity bills are insignificant
The bills are made out  not in the name of MS Paul but Ms Paul Brothers and DP Paul is said to be an uncle of the Pauls
These together with the partnership deeds and municipal licences and corre spondence the genuineness of which cannot be rejected straightaway support the claim
No doubt there is a slight discrepancy in that the 1961 deed is not referred to in the 1974 deeds but this cannot entail the rejection of the 1961 deed
We do not wish to elaborate on every one of the other points made by the counsel for the Mandals
It is true that Mahamaya Devi did not refer to them in her objections but she was concerned about saving her property from attach ment and sale as that of Sanchaitas and the issue about her having let out the property was irrelevant for the decision of her objections
We are satisfied that even in the face of the evidence produced 316 before the High Court which has been supplemented in some respects before us it is difficult to treat the Paul Bros as trespassers or unauthorised occupants in the property
In the result the appeals of Paul Brothers and Phani Bhusan Ghose are allowed while those of Hari Narayan Gupta and Dulal Chandra Dutta are rejected
We however make no order as to costs
SB Petition allowed


Summary:
After passing his MA examination securing more than 40 per cent marks 364 out of 900 the appellant secured admission in 1983 to three years law course in Ganjam Law College
Along with his form seeking admission he had sub mitted the mark sheet with his MA degree certificate
He completed his first year course Pre Law course  in 1984 and was promoted to the Intermediate Law course
In 1985 he appeared for the pre law  and inter law  examinations
He gave the said examination and in the same year was admitted to the Final Law course
However his results for the Pre Law and Intermediate Law course were not declared by the Univer sity on the ground that in view of the Regulations of the University he was not qualified to be admitted to the law course
His admission being improper he was not eligible to sit at the examinations aforesaid
The appellant made repre sentations to the Bar Council of India and the Administrator of the University but to no avail
When his representations and even the communication from the Chairman of the Board of Studies to the University did not yield the desired result the appellant approached the Orissa High Court by means of writ petition on 11587 challenging the non declaration of his results and the University s refusal to permit the appellant to appear in the final examination
The writ petition having been dismissed by the High Court he has filed this appeal by special leave
The question that falls for determination by this Court is whether the appellant was eligible to be admitted to Law Course
Allowing the appeal this Court HELD Per Sawant J The requirement of 40 per cent marks in the aggregate is meant 273 only for graduates such as of Bachelor of articles etc
That requirement does not apply to those candidates who pass any higher degree examination after graduation
For admission to the Law Course there is no requirement of any particular marks for post graduate students like the appellant and the appellant is entitled to be admitted under Reg 1 in Chapter VIII of the said Regulations
The appellant satisfies the other qualification as well viz he has passed the MA examination with 36 per cent marks in the aggregate deduct ing 13 marks in one of the papers and is therefore duly qualified to be admitted to the Law course
277G 278F G Resolution No 1231984 of the Bar Council of India does not speak of the requirement of marks for examination at post graduate level
279G The distinction between graduates and post graduates made in the matter of the qualifying marks is as it ought to be since graduates and post graduates cannot be treated equally
The appellant while securing his admission in the Law College had admittedly submitted his marks sheet along with the application for admission
The Law College had admitted him
He had pursued his studies for two years
The Universi ty had also granted him the admission card for the Pre law and Intermediate Law examinations
He was permitted to appear in the said examinations
He was also admitted to the Final year of the course
It is only at the stage of the declaration of his results of the Pre law and Inter law examinations that the University raised the objection to his so called ineligibility to be admitted to the Law course
The University is therefore clearly estopped from refusing to declare the results of the appellant s examination or from preventing him from pursuing his final year course
280C E Per Sharma J  From the letters of the University it is clear that it was not depending upon the opinion of the Principal and had decided to verify the situation for itself
In that situa tion it cannot punish the student for the negligence of the Principal or the University authorities
It is important to appreciate that the appellant cannot be accused of making any false statement or suppressing any relevant fact before anybody
He had produced his marks sheet before the College authority with his application for admission and cannot be accused of any fraud or misrepresentation
281D F 274 Assuming the construction of the rule as contended by the University is correct the Principal cannot be condemned for recommending the candidature of the appellant for the examination in question
It was the bounden duty of the University to have scrutinised the matter thoroughly before permitting the appellant to appear at the examination and not having done so it cannot refuse to publish his results
281F G It is impressed upon the University authorities to frame the rules in such clear terms that it may not require great skill for understanding them
In order to achieve clarity it does not matter if the rule instead of being concise is elaborate and lengthy
281H 282A