RSA No.4553 of 2009 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH REGULAR SECOND APPEAL No.4553 of 2009 DATE OF DECISION: 8 th APRIL, 2011 Desa Singh .... Appellant Versus Nihal Singh & others .... Respondents CORAM :- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE L. N. MITTAL. PRESENT: Mr. Ashish Gupta, Advocate for Mr. Vikram Singh, Advocate, for the appellant. * * * * L.N. MITTAL, J. (ORAL) CM No.13663-C of 2009: Allowed as prayed for. Main Appeal: Desa Singh-plaintiff having lost in both the courts below is in second appeal. Plaintiff and all the three defendants are sons of Punjab Singh. Said Punjab Singh suffered consent decree dated 12.01.1984 in favour of defendants No.1 and 2 regarding suit land measuring 38 Kanals 8 Marlas, whereby defendants No.1 and 2 herein were declared to be owners in possession thereof. In the suit, plaintiff has challenged the aforesaid consent decree dated 12.01.1984 alleging that the suit land was ancestral coparcenary property in the hands of Punjab Singh having been allotted to him in lieu of agricultural land left in Pakistan and, therefore, Punjab Singh could not transfer the suit land to defendants No.1 and 2 only to the exclusion of plaintiff and proforma RSA No.4553 of 2009 -2- defendant No.3. The plaintiff, therefore, alleged that plaintiff and defendants are owner in possession of the suit land in equal shares. Injunction was also claimed. Defendants contested the suit and denied the plaint allegations. It was denied that suit land was ancestral coparcenary property in the hands of Punjab Singh. It was alleged that it was self-acquired property of Punjab Singh and consent decree in question is legal and valid. Defendants No.1 and 2 were rendering services to Punjab Singh and in family settlement, suit land was given to defendants No.1 and 2 who are owners in possession thereof. Various other pleas were also raised. Learned Additional Civil Judge (Senior Division), Tohana vide judgment and decree dated 30.04.2008 dismissed the plaintiff's suit. First appeal preferred by the plaintiff has been dismissed by learned Additional District Judge, Fatehabad vide judgment and decree dated 14.05.2009. Feeling aggrieved, plaintiff has preferred the instant second appeal. I have heard learned counsel for the appellant and perused the case file. Learned counsel for the appellant vehemently contended that suit land was ancestral coparcenary property in the hands of Punjab Singh. Reference in this behalf was made to cross-examination of Nihal Singh- defendant No.1, wherein it is stated that Punjab Singh had land in Pakistan, in lieu whereof suit land was allotted to him. Nihal Singh also admitted that his grand father Gurditt Singh was also agriculturist in Pakistan. However, from this testimony, it is not proved that suit land was ancestral coparcenary property in the hands of Punjab Singh. On the other hand, Nihal Singh specifically stated RSA No.4553 of 2009 -3- that land left by Punjab Singh in Pakistan was his self-acquired property as he had purchased the same. Consequently, suit land allotted in lieu thereof also became self-acquired property of Punjab Singh. Plaintiff appellant has failed to produce any evidence (except self-serving oral statement of the plaintiff himself) to depict that suit land was ancestral coparcenary property in the hands of Punjab Singh or that the land left by Punjab Singh in Pakistan was ancestral coparcenary property in his hands. Consequently, the plaintiff has been rightly non-suited by the courts below. There is no infirmity, much less illegality or perversity in concurrent finding recorded by the courts below to non-suit the plaintiff-appellant. The said finding is justified by the evidence on record and is not based on misreading or miss-appreciation of evidence. Consequently, the said finding does not call for interference in second appeal. No question of law, much less substantial question of law, arises for adjudication in this second appeal. The appeal is bereft of any merit and is accordingly dismissed in limine. (L. N. MITTAL) JUDGE 8th April, 2011 'raj'