{"id":45550,"date":"2006-11-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-11-05T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/dharamraj-ors-vs-chhitan-ors-on-6-november-2006"},"modified":"2017-09-13T18:39:37","modified_gmt":"2017-09-13T13:09:37","slug":"dharamraj-ors-vs-chhitan-ors-on-6-november-2006","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/dharamraj-ors-vs-chhitan-ors-on-6-november-2006","title":{"rendered":"Dharamraj &amp; Ors vs Chhitan &amp; Ors on 6 November, 2006"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"docsource_main\">Supreme Court of India<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_title\">Dharamraj &amp; Ors vs Chhitan &amp; Ors on 6 November, 2006<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_author\">Author: T Chatterjee<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_bench\">Bench: Arijit Pasayat, Tarun Chatterjee<\/div>\n<pre>           CASE NO.:\nAppeal (civil)  7507 of 1997\n\nPETITIONER:\nDharamraj &amp; Ors.\n\nRESPONDENT:\nChhitan &amp; Ors.\n\nDATE OF JUDGMENT: 06\/11\/2006\n\nBENCH:\nARIJIT PASAYAT &amp; TARUN CHATTERJEE\n\nJUDGMENT:\n<\/pre>\n<p>J U D G M E N T<\/p>\n<p>TARUN CHATTERJEE,J.\n<\/p>\n<p>This appeal is directed against the judgment and<br \/>\norder dated 12th March 1987 passed in W.P. No.<br \/>\n2736\/1976 by the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad<br \/>\n(Lucknow Bench ) whereby the Writ Petition filed by<br \/>\nChhitan, Chandrika and Karia, a minor son of Jai Ram,<br \/>\nrepresented by his mother and guardian Smt. Sonara<br \/>\nbeing respondent Nos. 1 to 3 in this appeal were allowed<br \/>\nand decision of the consolidation authorities were set<br \/>\naside. By allowing the said Writ petition, the appellants<br \/>\nwere deprived of their alleged shares in ancestral tenancy<br \/>\nand giving sole tenancy rights to respondent Nos. 1 to 3<br \/>\nover the land of Khata No.111 in Village Balrampur,<br \/>\nPargana and Tehsil Tanda, District Faizabad (hereinafter<br \/>\nreferred to as the &#8220;said land&#8221;).  We are not concerned with<br \/>\nthe other plots relating to Khata No.13 as the disputes<br \/>\nraised in this case appeal does not relate to the said land.<br \/>\nTherefore, we restrict ourselves in this appeal in respect of<br \/>\nthe dispute only relating to the said land.<br \/>\nObjections filed under section 9A(2) of the U.P.<br \/>\nConsolidation of Holdings Act 1953 ( in short &#8220;the Act&#8221;) by<br \/>\nthe parties in this appeal in respect of the entries in Khata<br \/>\nNo.111 and 13 relating to basic year 1378 Fasli were<br \/>\nreferred to the Consolidation Officer for adjudication.  We<br \/>\nmay reiterate, as noted herein earlier, that in this appeal<br \/>\nthe questions need to be decided only in respect of the<br \/>\nlands in Khata No.111 and not Khata No.13.   It is not in<br \/>\ndispute that the lands relating to Khata No.111 in the<br \/>\nbasic year were recorded in the name of Saltanati.<br \/>\nSubsequently, in the year 1338 F this land was recorded<br \/>\nin the name of Adhin by way of settlement.   On the death<br \/>\nof Adhin the said land was recorded in the name of<br \/>\nJabbar and then subsequently in the name of  Jai Ram.<br \/>\nSince Jai Ram was not traceable in his place Smt. Sonara<br \/>\nhis wife and minor son Karia had represented the estate<br \/>\nas the legal heirs and representatives of Jai Ram.  Smt.<br \/>\nSonara entered into a settlement with Chittan son of<br \/>\nDubri, Chandrika son of Sripat. Thereby the minor Karia<br \/>\nrepresented by his mother Smt. Sonara agreed to have co-<br \/>\ntenancy rights in respect of Khata No.111, with Chittan<br \/>\nand Chandrika. On the other hand, the appellants<br \/>\nrepresenting Daya Ram and others jointly claimed co-<br \/>\ntenancy rights in respect of the said land on the ground<br \/>\nthat the said lands were acquired by their ancestor<br \/>\nSaltanati and thereafter Jokhan son of Adhin was<br \/>\nrecorded in the representative capacity.<br \/>\nAccording to the appellants, the family remained joint<br \/>\ntill some time when the land was recorded in the name of<br \/>\nAdhin.  Binda and Sanehi on the death of Salatanati<br \/>\nseparated from their joint family and Adhin separated<br \/>\nwith his nephews Bhulai and Dukhi.  In this manner, the<br \/>\nsaid land of Jokhan and Salatanati were distributed  in<br \/>\nthe joint family and the shares were divided equally.<br \/>\nHowever, the said lands continued to be recorded in the<br \/>\nname of Adhin.   After some time, Bhulai and Dukhi, who<br \/>\nwere joint with Adhin also separated from him and by<br \/>\npartition the lands were divided.  In the same manner,<br \/>\nBinda and Sanehi lived jointly for some time and<br \/>\nthereafter separated by partition.  The entire lands of<br \/>\nKhata No.111 continued to remain recorded in the name<br \/>\nof Adhin, even though Dukhi, Bhulai, Binda and Sanehi<br \/>\ncultivated their lands separately.  After the death of<br \/>\nAdhin, the said lands came to be recorded in the name of<br \/>\nhis son Jabbar and thereafter on the death of Jabbar the<br \/>\nsame was recorded in the name of his son Jai Ram. At<br \/>\nthis stage, to understand the Pedigree of the parties, it<br \/>\nwould be appropriate to give a Pedigree chart herein now<br \/>\nwhich is not now in dispute as was given by the<br \/>\nappellants.\n<\/p>\n<p>The Pedigree chart which was set up by the<br \/>\nappellants is given below:-\n<\/p>\n<p>The Consolidation Officer by his order dated 6th June<br \/>\n1972 declared the appellants or their predecessor in<br \/>\ninterest as co-tenure holders in respect of the said land<br \/>\nalong with Jai Ram and determined the share on the basis<br \/>\nof the Pedigree, as noted above.\n<\/p>\n<p> \tAggrieved by the order dated 6th June 1972  of the<br \/>\nConsolidation Officer respondent Nos. 1 to 3 filed an<br \/>\nappeal whereas Daya Ram and others preferred an appeal<br \/>\nalso.   However, the appeals filed by the parties before the<br \/>\nappellate authority i.e. Assistant Settlement Officer were<br \/>\ndismissed.  Revisions were filed by the parties before the<br \/>\nDeputy Director, Consolidation which were disposed of by<br \/>\nallowing the same partly and the following order was<br \/>\npassed :\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is ordered that over the basic year in<br \/>\nKhata No. 13 the names of Chhitan<br \/>\n(respondent No.1), Jai Ram (Respondent<br \/>\nNo.2) and Chandrika (Respondent No.3) alone<br \/>\nshall be entered. In Khata No.111 over plot<br \/>\nNos. 152, 154, 161, 425, 435, 442, 475, 481,<br \/>\n465 and 511 also the names of the<br \/>\nrespondent Nos. 1 to 3 shall only be entered.<br \/>\nOver the remaining plots of Khata No.111 in<br \/>\naccordance with the orders of Consolidation<br \/>\nOfficer and Assistant Settlement Officer,<br \/>\nConsolidation, the names of both the parties<br \/>\nshall be entered as co-tenants.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>At this stage, let us take up the question of accepting<br \/>\nthe Pedigree chart set up by the contesting parties. It was<br \/>\nthe case of Daya Ram and others (appellants herein) that<br \/>\nBekaru was the son of Jokhan whereas the case of<br \/>\nrespondent Nos. 1 to 3 was that Bekaru was the son of<br \/>\nSaltanati.  However, the respondent Nos. 1 to 3 had failed<br \/>\nto prove that Bekaru was the son of Saltanati.<br \/>\nOn a finding of fact arrived by the consolidation<br \/>\nauthorities particularly the revisional authorities, it is not<br \/>\nin dispute now that Bekaru was the son of Jokhan and<br \/>\ntherefore the Pedigree set up by the appellants must be<br \/>\naccepted.\n<\/p>\n<p>As quoted herein above, the Deputy Director,<br \/>\nConsolidation held that in Khata No.111 plot Nos.  152,<br \/>\n154,  161, 425, 435,  442,    475,    481, 465 and 511 the<br \/>\nnames of Chittan, Jai Ram and Chandrika be entered and<br \/>\nover the remaining plots of Khata No.111 the findings of<br \/>\nthe Consolidation Officer and the Assistant Settlement<br \/>\nOfficer were accepted by him.  That is to say in respect of<br \/>\nthe remaining plots in Khata No.111, the respondent shall<br \/>\nbe entered as co-tenure holders in respect of the<br \/>\nremaining plots of Khata No.111.\n<\/p>\n<p>     It is this order of the revisional authority passed in<br \/>\nthe aforesaid revision cases Daya Ram and others filed a<br \/>\nwrit application in the High Court of Allahabad, which<br \/>\ncame to be registerd as W.P. No.2838\/1976.   It was,<br \/>\ninter-alia, the case made out by Daya Ram and others in<br \/>\nthe aforesaid writ application that the Deputy Director of<br \/>\nConsolidation acting as revisional authority had erred in<br \/>\nnot holding the appellants who ought to have been held as<br \/>\nco-tenure holders of the said land along with respondent<br \/>\nNos. 1 to 3  and also remaining plots of Khata No.111.  On<br \/>\nthe other hand, the respondent Nos. 1 to 3 also filed a writ<br \/>\napplication being W.P. No. 2736\/1976 against the order<br \/>\npassed by the Deputy Director, Consolidation in revision<br \/>\ncases challenging the order of the Deputy Director,<br \/>\nConsolidation on the ground that in the admitted facts of<br \/>\nthe present case respondent Nos. 1 to 3 ought to have<br \/>\nbeen held to be sole tenure holders in respect of the said<br \/>\nlands.\n<\/p>\n<p>\tBy the impugned judgment, the High Court after<br \/>\nhearing the parties disposed of the aforesaid two writ<br \/>\npetitions by passing the following order:\n<\/p>\n<p>\t\t&#8220;In the result, the writ petition<br \/>\nNo.2838\/76 filed by Daya Ram and others<br \/>\nis dismissed being devoid of merits and<br \/>\nwrit petition No. 2736\/76 filed by Chitan<br \/>\nand others is hereby allowed and the order<br \/>\ndated 13.8.1976 passed by Deputy<br \/>\nDirector, Consolidation in so far as it<br \/>\nrelates to ten plots of Khata No.111<br \/>\nmentioned in the said order by which Daya<br \/>\nRam and others have been given co-\n<\/p>\n<p>tenancy rights is hereby quashed and the<br \/>\npetitioners Chitan, Chandrika and Karia<br \/>\nunder guardianship of Smt. Somura are<br \/>\ndirected to be recorded as sole tenure<br \/>\nholders to entire land of Khata No.111 and<br \/>\nalso Khata No. 13 of village Balrampur,<br \/>\nTehsil and Pargana Tanda, District<br \/>\nFaizabad.  No order as to costs.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>While disposing of the writ petitions, the High Court<br \/>\nheld in substance as under:-\n<\/p>\n<p>A.\tThe land in dispute did not devolve upon Adhin from<br \/>\nSaltanati.\n<\/p>\n<p>B.\tThe land in Khata No.111 was resettled by then<br \/>\nlandlord giving certain parts to Adhin and certain<br \/>\nother plots to others.  Therefore, it was a fresh<br \/>\nsettlement and there was no continuity in the identity<br \/>\nof the holding.\n<\/p>\n<p>C.\tAccepting the findings arrived at by the consolidation<br \/>\nauthorities or on the admitted facts, the High Court<br \/>\nheld that the disputed holding did not come in tact in<br \/>\nthe identical form and only some of the plots of the<br \/>\nholdings belonging to common ancestral were found<br \/>\nincluded in the disputed holding and therefore that<br \/>\nwould not make an ancestral holding so as to give a<br \/>\nshare in it to the appellants on that ground nor it<br \/>\nwould be permissible to pick up those plots from the<br \/>\nholding and declare them to be the ancestral property<br \/>\nand give a share in those plots to the appellants.<br \/>\n\t\tIt is this order of the High Court, which is under<br \/>\nchallenge before us in respect of which leave was<br \/>\ngranted.   We have heard the learned counsel on either<br \/>\nside and examined carefully all the orders of the<br \/>\nConsolidation authorities and finally the impugned<br \/>\njudgment of the High Court.\n<\/p>\n<p>\t\tIt must be brought on record that before us, no<br \/>\nsubmission has been made in respect of the appeal filed<br \/>\nby Daya Ram and others challenging the portion of the<br \/>\norder which had gone against them.  We restrict<br \/>\nourselves only on the question whether the claims of<br \/>\nrespondent Nos. 1 to 3 in respect of Khata No.111 were<br \/>\njustified or not as granted by the High Court.<br \/>\nOn behalf of the appellants, the main contention of<br \/>\nDr. R.G. Padia, learned senior counsel appearing for<br \/>\nthem was to the effect that it was not open to the High<br \/>\nCourt to set aside the findings of fact arrived at by the<br \/>\nconsolidation authorities in the exercise of its extra<br \/>\nordinary jurisdiction under Art. 226 of the Constitution.<br \/>\nIt was, however, not the submission of Dr. Padia that it<br \/>\nwas not open to the High Court to exercise its<br \/>\njurisdiction when the consolidation authorities had<br \/>\nerred in deciding a question of law on the facts admitted<br \/>\nor proved by the parties before them.  Dr. Padia thus<br \/>\ncontended that the High Court erred in setting aside the<br \/>\nfinding of fact of the consolidation authorities by<br \/>\nsubstituting its own views on the question of fact under<br \/>\nArt. 226 of the Constitution.\n<\/p>\n<p> \t\tSecondly, it was contended by Dr. Padia that<br \/>\nsince two of the co-tenure holders were not made<br \/>\nparties in the writ application who are appellant Nos. 13<br \/>\nand 14 in the appeal, the writ petitions heard and<br \/>\ndisposed of in their absence could not be said to be<br \/>\nmaintainable in law.\n<\/p>\n<p>  \t\tThe aforesaid two-fold submissions of Dr. Padia<br \/>\nwere, however, contested by Mr. O.P. Sharma, the<br \/>\nlearned senior counsel who appeared for the respondent<br \/>\nNos. 1 to 3.  Let us therefore examine the main<br \/>\nquestion, as raised by the learned counsel for the<br \/>\nparties and noted herein earlier in detail.  We have<br \/>\nalready discussed the impugned judgment of the High<br \/>\nCourt and the order of all the three consolidation<br \/>\nauthorities.  It is now well settled law that in the<br \/>\nexercise of its extra ordinary writ jurisdiction High<br \/>\nCourt is not supposed to interfere with the findings of<br \/>\nfact arrived at by the consolidation authorities unless<br \/>\nand until High Court concludes that such findings of<br \/>\nfact are either perverse or based on no evidence.   It<br \/>\nmay also be kept in mind that Mr. Sharma appearing<br \/>\nfor the respondent Nos. 1 to 3 also had not advanced<br \/>\nany submission to the extent that the findings of fact of<br \/>\nthe authorities in the facts and circumstances of the<br \/>\ncase could at all be said to be perverse or based on no<br \/>\nevidence.  It was the submission of Mr. Sharma that on<br \/>\nthe admitted fact and the findings arrived at by the<br \/>\nconsolidation authorities the High Court has only<br \/>\ndeclared the law on such admitted and proved facts.\n<\/p>\n<p>\t\tIt is well settled position of law by catena of decisions<br \/>\nof this Court that in the writ jurisdiction of the High<br \/>\nCourt, it is always permissible for it to correct the<br \/>\ndecision of the consolidation authorities or to declare<br \/>\nthe law on the basis of facts and proof of such facts.<br \/>\nFor this proposition, we may usefully refer to a decision<br \/>\nof this Court in the case of <a href=\"\/doc\/984273\/\">Mukunda Bore  vs.<br \/>\nBangshidhar Buragohain &amp; Ors.<\/a>  reported in AIR 1980<br \/>\nSC 1524 in which this Court indicated as to when High<br \/>\nCourt can interfere with the orders of  quasi judicial<br \/>\nauthority.  This observation may be quoted which is as<br \/>\nfollows:\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;While on facts the order of the Board<br \/>\nunder appeal is not impeccable, we must<br \/>\nremember that under Art. 226 of the<br \/>\nConstitution a finding of fact of a domestic<br \/>\ntribunal cannot be interfered with.  The<br \/>\nHigh Court in the exercise of its special<br \/>\njurisdiction does not act as a Court of<br \/>\nAppeal.  It interferes only when there is a<br \/>\njurisdictional error apparent on the face of<br \/>\nthe record committed by the domestic<br \/>\ntribunal.  Such is not the case here.  It is<br \/>\ntrue that a finding based on no evidence or<br \/>\npurely on surmises and conjectures or<br \/>\nwhich is manifestly against the basic<br \/>\nprinciples of natural justice, may be said to<br \/>\nsuffer from an error of law.  In the instant<br \/>\ncase, the finding of the Board that the<br \/>\nappellant does not possess the necessary<br \/>\nfinancial capacity, is largely a finding of<br \/>\nfact under Rule 206(2) of the Assam Excise<br \/>\nRules, an applicant for settlement of a shop<br \/>\nis required to give full information<br \/>\nregarding his financial capacity in the<br \/>\ntender.   Such information must include<br \/>\nthe details of sources of finance, cash in<br \/>\nhand, bank balance, security assets, etc.<br \/>\nThen, such information is verified by the<br \/>\nInquiry Officer.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\t(Underlining is ours )<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/doc\/484719\/\">In Syed Yakoob  vs. K.S.Radhakrishnan &amp; Ors.<\/a><br \/>\nreported in 1964 (5) SCR 64 this Court observed as<br \/>\nfollows:-\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;finding of fact cannot be challenged in a<br \/>\nproceeding on the ground that the relevant<br \/>\nand material evidence was insufficient to<br \/>\nsustain the finding and that adequacy or<br \/>\nsufficiency of evidence or an inference of fact<br \/>\nto be drawn from the evidence or finding of<br \/>\nfact are entirely within the jurisdiction of the<br \/>\nTribunal.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\t\tAgain in the case of <a href=\"\/doc\/1818703\/\">State of West Bengal vs. A.K.<br \/>\nShaw<\/a> reported in AIR 1990 SC 2205 this Court held that<br \/>\nif the quasi judicial tribunal had appreciated the evidence<br \/>\non record and recorded the findings of fact, those findings<br \/>\nof fact would be binding to the High Court.  By the<br \/>\nprocess of judicial review, the High Court cannot<br \/>\nappreciate the evidence and record its own findings of<br \/>\nfact.  If the findings are based on no evidence or based on<br \/>\nconjectures or surmises and no reasonable man would on<br \/>\ngiven facts and circumstances come to the conclusion<br \/>\nreached by the quasi-judicial authority on the basis of the<br \/>\nevidence on record, certainly the High Court would<br \/>\noversee whether the findings recorded by the authority is<br \/>\nbased on no evidence or beset with surmises or<br \/>\nconjectures.\n<\/p>\n<p>In view of the law settled by this Court on the<br \/>\nquestion under consideration, let us consider whether the<br \/>\nHigh Court was justified in reversing the order of the<br \/>\nconsolidation authorities by declaring  that the names of<br \/>\nRespondent Nos. 1 to 3 should be entered as co-tenure<br \/>\nholders in respect of the plots recorded in Khata No.111.<br \/>\nIt would be fruitful for us to look into the findings arrived<br \/>\nat not only of the High Court but also of the consolidation<br \/>\nauthorities.  The Consolidation Officer as the original<br \/>\nauthority under the Act on consideration of the material<br \/>\non record held the appellants to be co-tenure holders in<br \/>\nrespect of the said land with respondent Nos. 1 to 3.  In<br \/>\nappeal, the Assistant Settlement Officer held that the<br \/>\nConsolidation Officer was justified in holding that the<br \/>\nnames of the appellants with respondent Nos. 1 to 3<br \/>\nshould be entered in respect of the lands recorded in<br \/>\nKhata No.111, i.e. the case made out by the respondent<br \/>\nNos. 1 to 3 that they may be declared as sole tenure<br \/>\nholders in respect of Khata No.111 was not accepted.\n<\/p>\n<p>         As noted herein earlier, the Deputy Director held the<br \/>\nrespondent Nos. 1 to 3 in this appeal to be exclusive<br \/>\ntenure holders of ten plots and in respect of the remaining<br \/>\nplots of this Khata, the Deputy Director, Consolidation<br \/>\ndirected the names of the appellants as well as the<br \/>\nrespondent Nos. 1 to 3 should be recorded as co-tenure<br \/>\nholders.\n<\/p>\n<p>\tWe have already put on record that the High Court,<br \/>\nhowever, reversed the findings and order of the Deputy<br \/>\nDirector, Consolidation by holding that the lands recorded<br \/>\nin the entire Khata No.111 must be recorded in the names<br \/>\nof respondent Nos. 1 to 3.  It was the case of the<br \/>\nappellants in this appeal before the High Court that since<br \/>\nthe lands recorded in Khata No.111 initially belonged to<br \/>\nSaltanati and they represented his branch and that of<br \/>\nBekaru, son of Jokhan, they were entitled  to get shares<br \/>\nas per pedigree set up by the appellants.  It was also<br \/>\ncontended before the High Court that the Deputy Director,<br \/>\nConsolidation fell in error in holding the respondent Nos.<br \/>\n1 to 3 to be the exclusive tenure holders of ten plots of<br \/>\nKhata No.111 which according to them belonged to<br \/>\nSaltanati.  On the other hand, it was the stand of the<br \/>\nrespondent Nos. 1 to 3 that the entire holding of the said<br \/>\nKhata was acquired by Adhin and was recorded in his<br \/>\nname in 1338 F.   Therefore, lands recorded in Khata<br \/>\nNo.111 which initially belonged to Saltanati was resettled<br \/>\nby the then landlord with Adhin and others.   It was the<br \/>\nstand of the respondent Nos. 1 to 3 that the lands<br \/>\nrecorded in the said Khata in the name of  Adhin in the<br \/>\nyear 1338 F, certain other plots were also recorded<br \/>\ntherein.  Accordingly, it was urged that the land in dispute<br \/>\nwas acquired by Adhin by way of settlement which<br \/>\ncontinued to be in his possession and on his death it had<br \/>\ndevolved upon respondent Nos. 1 to 3 exclusively.   The<br \/>\nappellants cannot claim any right, title and interest in<br \/>\nrespect of entire Khata No.111 nor can they acquire co-<br \/>\ntenure holders rights on the ground that the land was<br \/>\nancestral holding.\n<\/p>\n<p>From the above discussion, it is therefore clear that<br \/>\nalthough originally the said land had belonged to<br \/>\nSaltanati but subsequent event had clearly indicated that<br \/>\nit was recorded in the name of Adhin and therefore the<br \/>\nrespondent Nos. 1 to 3, admittedly the successors in<br \/>\ninterest of the estate of Adhin, were entitled to succeed.<br \/>\nAccordingly, there cannot be any doubt that the identity of<br \/>\nthe said land was changed from Saltanati to Adhin and<br \/>\nthereafter to respondent Nos. 1 to 3. Even all the findings<br \/>\narrived at by the Deputy Director, Consolidation in<br \/>\nrespect of 10 plots in Khata No.111, as noted herein<br \/>\nearlier, the names of respondent Nos.1 to 3 would<br \/>\nexclusively be entered. At the same time, the Deputy<br \/>\nDirector, Consolidation had also held that the names of<br \/>\nthe appellants should be included in remaining plots of<br \/>\nKhata No.111. From the above admitted fact, it is clear<br \/>\nthat the lands recorded in the said Khata were directed to<br \/>\nbe recorded in different names. From this it is apparent<br \/>\nthat the identity of the lands in Khata No.111 were<br \/>\ndirected to be changed which is not permissible in law.<br \/>\n Such being the position, it must be held that the<br \/>\nrespondent Nos. 1 to 3 being the successors in interest<br \/>\nfrom the side of Adhin whose name was duly recorded in<br \/>\nrespect of the said land were entitled to succeed to the<br \/>\nsaid land on the basis of identity and resettlement of the<br \/>\nsame.  If the identity of the land has been changed, the<br \/>\nappellants could not get the property on the basis that<br \/>\noriginally this land had been recorded in the name of<br \/>\nSaltanati and that the said land was their ancestral<br \/>\nproperty. Therefore, the pedigree set up at the instance of<br \/>\nthe respondent Nos. 1 to 3, even if it cannot be relied on,<br \/>\nthe respondent Nos. 1 to 3 were entitled to succeed on the<br \/>\nbasis of the aforesaid fact.\n<\/p>\n<p>We must also keep it on record that it was not<br \/>\ndisputed before the consolidation authorities nor it was<br \/>\ndisputed by the learned counsel for the appellants before<br \/>\nus that the identity of the said land had changed in view<br \/>\nof the resettlement in favour of Adhin.  That being the<br \/>\nposition, we must hold that the appellants could not<br \/>\nacquire any co-tenancy rights even if the appellants<br \/>\nsucceeded in proving the pedigree set up by them and<br \/>\nalso acquisition of the land by common ancestor.<br \/>\nAccordingly, the Deputy Director of Consolidation<br \/>\nwas in error in giving co tenure holder rights to the<br \/>\nappellants herein in some of the plots of Khata No.111<br \/>\non the ground that those plots initially belonged to<br \/>\nSaltanati and it was ancestral holding of appellants.<br \/>\n\tIn view of our discussions made herein above, we<br \/>\ntherefore come to the conclusion that the High Court<br \/>\nwhile reversing the order of the Deputy Director,<br \/>\nConsolidation had not set aside the findings of fact<br \/>\narrived at by them but on the other hand has declared<br \/>\nthe question of law on the admitted facts and the<br \/>\nfindings of fact arrived at by the consolidation<br \/>\nauthorities.\n<\/p>\n<p>As noted herein earlier, Dr. Padia contended that<br \/>\nsince two of the co-tenure holders were not made parties<br \/>\nin the writ application, who are Ram Bachan and<br \/>\nSubhash Chandra appellant Nos.13 and 14 in this<br \/>\nappeal, the writ petition ought to have been dismissed by<br \/>\nthe High Court solely on the ground that in their absence<br \/>\nthe writ petition could not be said to be maintainable in<br \/>\nlaw.  This submission of Dr. Padia cannot be accepted<br \/>\nfor the simple reason that Ram Bachan and Subhash<br \/>\nChandra appellant Nos. 13 and 14 claimed their share in<br \/>\nthe said land being descendants of Saltanati.   In view of<br \/>\nour findings made herein above that Saltanati had lost<br \/>\nhis right, title and interest in respect of the said land<br \/>\nbecause of the fact that the said land was resettled and<br \/>\nrecorded in the name of Adhin, it cannot be said that<br \/>\nRam Bachan and Subhash Chandra, appellant Nos. 13<br \/>\nand 14, herein ought to have been made parties to the<br \/>\nwrit application as they were not found to be co-tenure<br \/>\nholders in respect of the said land. Accordingly, for non-<br \/>\ninclusion of Ram Bachan and Subhash Chandra<br \/>\nappellant Nos. 13 and 14 in the Writ Petition filed before<br \/>\nthe High Court, it cannot be said that the writ petition<br \/>\nwas not maintainable in law.  In view of the aforesaid<br \/>\nfinding, the question of abatement on the death of Siya<br \/>\nRam (father of Subhash Chandra) could not arise at all.<br \/>\nAccordingly, in our view, Ram Bachan and<br \/>\nSubhash Chandra appellant Nos.13 and 14 were not at<br \/>\nall necessary parties to the Writ Petition No.2736\/1976<br \/>\nand the question of non-maintainability of the writ<br \/>\npetitions before the High Court in their absence could<br \/>\nnot arise.  It is, therefore, not necessary to deal with the<br \/>\ndecisions cited by Dr.Padia in connection with the<br \/>\nquestion of abatement on the death of Siya Ram and<br \/>\nmaintainability of the writ petition for their non-<br \/>\ninclusion. Accordingly, this question is answered in the<br \/>\nnegative.\n<\/p>\n<p>\tFor the reasons aforesaid, this appeal fails and the<br \/>\nsame is dismissed without any order as to costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supreme Court of India Dharamraj &amp; Ors vs Chhitan &amp; Ors on 6 November, 2006 Author: T Chatterjee Bench: Arijit Pasayat, Tarun Chatterjee CASE NO.: Appeal (civil) 7507 of 1997 PETITIONER: Dharamraj &amp; Ors. RESPONDENT: Chhitan &amp; Ors. DATE OF JUDGMENT: 06\/11\/2006 BENCH: ARIJIT PASAYAT &amp; TARUN CHATTERJEE JUDGMENT: J U D G M E [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-supreme-court-of-india"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Dharamraj &amp; Ors vs Chhitan &amp; Ors on 6 November, 2006 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/dharamraj-ors-vs-chhitan-ors-on-6-november-2006\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dharamraj &amp; 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