Case: Monohar Das Mohanta Vs. Charu Chandra Pal &amp; Others

The appellant is the Mahant of a religious institution known as Rajgunj Asthal in Burdwan, and the suits out of which the present appeals arise, were instituted by him to recover possession of various plots of land in the occupation of the defendants, or in the alternative, for assessment of fair and equitable rent. It was alleged in the plaints that the suit lands were comprised in Mouza Nala forming part of the permanently settled estate of Burdwan, and were Mal lands assessed to revenue, and that more than 200 years previously there had been a permanent Mokarrari grant of those lands by the Maharaja of Burdwan to the Rajgunj Asthal; that in the record of rights published during the settlement in 1931 they were erroneously described as rent-free, and that on the strength of that entry the defendants were refusing to surrender possession of the lands to the plaintiff. It was accordingly prayed that a decree might be passed for ejectment of the defendants, or in the alternative, for assessment of a fair and equitabledefendants contested the suits, and pleaded that the lands were not Mal lands comprised within Mouza Nala, that they did not form part of the zamindari of Burdwan but had been granted as Lakheraj to their predecessors-in-title long prior to the permanent settlement, that neither the Maharaja of Burdwan nor the plaintiff claiming under him had any title to them, and that the entry in the record of rights in 1931 was correct. The defendants also pleaded that as they and their predecessors had been in possession of the lands for over 200 years under assertion of an adverse title, the claim of the plaintiff was barred byDistrict Munsif of Burdwan who tried the suits held that the lands were included in Mouza Nala in Thouzi No. 1, which was comprised in the permanently settled estate of Burdwan, that their income was taken into account in fixing the revenue payable by the estate, that they had been granted in permanent Mokarrari by the then Maharaja of Burdwan to the Rajgunj Asthal, and that the plea of the defendants that they held them under a Lakheraj grant made prior to the permanent settlement was not true. He also held that the documents on which the defendants claimed to have dealt with the properties as owners under assertion of an adverse title were not proved to relate to the suit lands, that the relationship subsisting between the parties was one of landlord and tenant, that as there had been no determination of tenancy, no decree in ejectment could be passed but that the plaintiff was entitled to fair rent, and that the claim was not barred by reason of article 131 of the Limitation Act. In the result, he granted decrees for rent.The defendants appealed against this decision to the Court of the District Judge of Burdwan, who agreed with the District Munsif that the suit lands were Mal lands within the zamindari of Burdwan, and that they had been settled on the plaintiff by the Maharaja of Burdwan. But he held that as the defendants and their predecessors had been in possession of the lands for a very long time without payment of rent, a presumption of a lost grant could be made in their favour. He accordingly dismissed the suits. Against this decision, the plaintiff appealed to the High Court, which agreeing with the District Judge on both the points dismissed the appeals, but granted a certificate under article 133(1)(c), as it was of the opinion that the question of lost grant raised an issue of great importance.

Court's reasoning:
The circumstances and conditions under which a presumption of lost grant could be made are well settled. When a person was found in possession and enjoyment of land for a considerable period of time under an assertion of title without challenge, Courts in England were inclined to ascribe a legal origin to such possession, and when on the facts a title by prescription could not be sustained, it was held that a presumption could be made that the possession was referable to a grant by the owner entitled to the land, but that such grant had been lost. It was a presumption made for securing ancient and continued possession, which could not otherwise be reasonably accounted for. But it was not a presumptio juris et de jure, and the Courts were not bound to raise it, if the facts in evidence went againstwhen it is shown that lands in an estate are assessed, it must follow that they could not have been held on the date of the permanent settlement as Lakheraj. It would be inconsistent with the scheme of the settlement and section 36 of Regulation No. 8 of 1793 to hold that the assessed or Mal lands in an estate could have been held on an anterior Lakheraj grant. It was for this reason that the defendants pleaded that the suit lands were not comprised in the Mal lands of the zamindari of Burdwan. But that plea has been negatived, and it has been found that they are part of the Mal lands within the zamindari assessed to revenue, and in view of that finding there is no scope for the presumption of a lost grant.Learned counsel for the respondents relied strongly on the record of rights made in 1931 with reference to the suit lands as supporting his contention. The entry in question describes the lands as "Bhog Dakhal Sutre Niskar", and has been translated as "without rent by virtue of possession andare therefore of opinion that a presumption of lost grant cannot be founded on the entry in the record of rights.There are also other difficulties in the way of presuming a lost grant in favour of the predecessors of the defendants. The suit properties formed part of Mauza Nala within the zamindari of Burdwan, and if a grant had been made in favour of the predecessors of the defendants, it must have been made by the Maharaja of Burdwan or by the Rajgunj Asthal. But the defendants have in their written statements denied the title of both the Maharaja and the Asthal, and having failed in that plea, cannot fall back on a presumption of lost grant by the very persons, whose title they haveare accordingly of opinion that on the facts found, no presumption of a lost grant could be made in favour of the defendants, and that the plaintiff was entitled to assessment of fair and equitable rent on the holdings in theirhave also held that there is no proof that the defendants claimed to hold under a rent-free grant to the knowledge of the plaintiff prior to 1931, and that what all has been established by them is non-payment of rent for a considerable but unascertained period of time. That, in itself, is not sufficient to make their possession adverse. It was only in 1931 that the defendants could be said clearly to have asserted a hostile title, and the suits are within time from that date. There is no substance in this plea, which is accordingly rejected.