JUDGMENT
Knox, Pramada Charan Banerji and Tudball JJ.
1. This is a reference made under Sub-section (1) of Section 60 of Act No. II of 1899. The court making the reference is the Munsif of Deoband and the reference was made, as the law requires, through the District Judge of Saharanpur. The document to which the reference relates Is a document contained in a book which purports to be a register of sums payable with respect to the letting out of wooden machines (charkhi) and rollers for pressing sugarcane and iron pans for boiling sugarcane juice. The documents in question are to be found as entries Nos. 20 and 23 for the year 1909 in these registers, The entries are to the effect that “Harkesh, son of Kunwar, and two others, residents of mauza Salempur, hired a sugarcane pressing machine in consideration of a rent of Rs. 15, from the plaintiff through his karinda (named), that they would pay the hire in Chait, and in default would pay interest at 2 per cent, per mensem.”
2. Below this entry appear the thumb marks of the persons who hired the machine. In one of the documents there is a further statement that the hirers would return the pans hired at their own cost, After hearing the learned Counsel on both sides and carefully considering the terms of the documents, we are satisfied that each of these documents is an “instrument” as defined in Sub-section (14) of Section 2 of Act No. II of 1899, and that the contents of the documents fall within the terms of Article 5 of Schedule I of the said Act, being memoranda of agreements within the meaning of that article. Under Clause (&) of Article 5, each of the documents therefore required a stamp of eight annas. This case is similar to the case of Mulchand Lala v. Kashibullav Biswas (1). This is our answer to the reference. A copy of this will be sent under seal of the Court and bearing the signature of the Registrar to the Chief Controlling Revenue Authority and another copy to the Judge who made the reference.
