P.H. Dayanand Vs. S. Venugopal
Naidu & Ors. [2008] INSC 1898 (7 November 2008)
Judgment
IN THE SUPREME COURT
OF INDIA CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CIVIL APPEAL NO. 6570 OF 2008 (Arising
out of SLP (C) No.2485 of 2007) P.H. Dayanand ... Appellant Versus S. Venugopal
Naidu & Ors. ... Respondent
S.B. Sinha, J.
1.
Leave
granted.
2.
The
short question that arises for consideration in this appeal is as to whether
the Courts below were correct in decreeing the suit only on the premise that defendant
No.2-appellant could not prove his title.
3.
The
basic fact of the matter is not in dispute. The plaintiff-respondent No.1
purchased the suit property in the year 1991 from one T. Bayarappa.
Apparently
plaintiff-respondent No.2 was in permissive possession thereof.
As despite request he
refused to vacate the licensed premises, the suit was filed.
4.
On
the other hand, the defence of the appellant before us was that he had been in
lawful possession of the property in his own right.
Appellant, inter alia,
contended that the original owner of the property, viz., Shri T. Bayrappa had
entered into an agreement of sale with one Shri Krishnamurthy. A Power of
Attorney was also executed in his favour. The said Krishnamurthy has assigned
his rights under an agreement in favour of denfendant No.1, (late Shri G.
Srinivas) and delivered possession of the property to him. Shri Srinivas raised
constructions thereupon. Shri Krishnamurthy allegedly as an agent of T.
Bayrappa assigned his rights in favour of G. Srinivas on 10.5.1997.
He filed a suit for
specific performance of contract. It was furthermore claimed that Shri
Srinivasan entered into an agreement with the petitioner to convey the property
for a total consideration of Rs.9,60,000/-.
3 A joint written
statement was filed in the said suit by the contesting defendants. Admittedly,
however, the said suit for specific performance of contract was withdrawn. An
additional written statement was filed by the petitioner claiming his title
under the aforementioned agreement entered into by and between him and the
defendant No.1
5.
The
learned Trial Court framed a large number of issues. Parties adduced their
respective evidences on the said issues. The suit was decreed and the first
appeal filed thereagainst was also dismissed by the High Court by reason of the
impugned judgment.
6.
Mr.
Nageshwar Rao, learned senior counsel appearing on behalf of the appellant, in
support of the appeal at the outset, drew our attention to the fact that
although plaintiff purported to have purchased the suit property in the year
1994 but from the records it would appear that he allegedly entered into an
agreement for sale with Shri T. Bayrappa in the year 1991. The Power of
Attorney was also executed in his favour authorizing him to encumber and
alienate the said property.
It was pointed out
that from the record it would furthermore appear that the plaintiff-first
respondent filed a writ petition before the High Court of Karnataka alleging
that Bangalore Development Authority had been 4 making attempts to dispossess
him and demolish the structures on the land when his application for
regularization of construction was pending before the said Authority. Learned
counsel would contend that from the said records, thus, it would appear that
the land in question had been acquired by the Bangalore Development Authority
and, thus, the plaintiff having lost his title, the question of defendant
No.2's being in permissive possession thereof would not arise and thus, the
suit filed by the plaintiff claiming title over the property could not have
been decreed.
7.
Mr.
P.V. Shetty, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent, on the
other hand, would support the judgment.
8.
Both
the courts below have concurrently found the contentions of the plaintiff-respondent
that he had purchased the property from the rightful owner T. Bayrappa. Even
according to the appellant, the purported transaction between Shri T. Bayrappa
and Shri Krishnamurthy and defendant No.1 did not result in execution of a
registered deed of sale in his favour. Admittedly, the defendant No.1 himself
filed a suit for specific performance of the contract against his vendor. It
has concurrently been found by both the courts that the defendant No.2 cannot
be said to have acquired any title over the property, particularly when the
defendant No.1 himself withdrew the suit for specific performance of contract.
It was 5 furthermore noticed that even the purported agreement for sale was
not produced before the trial court by the defendant No.1.
9.
When
questioned, Mr. Nageshwar Rao conceded that there is nothing on record to show
that the Bangalore Development Authority at any point of time has acquired the
property in suit in terms of the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894
or otherwise. Admittedly, the plaintiff's vendor was in possession of the suit
property. It is only through him, the defendant No.1 and defendant No.2 claimed
possession. As the original owner has transferred his title in favour of the
plaintiff-respondent, the court was required to go into the question of inter
se claim between the parties on or over the land in dispute. Even if plaintiff
and his vendor has been in prior possession, the defendant No.2 who came in
permissive possession of the property through him cannot be said to have
acquired a better title than the plaintiff.
10.
This
aspect of the matter has been considered in Somnath Burman v. Dr. S.P. Raju
& Anr. [(1969) 3 SCC 129] wherein this Court held :
"It was next
contended on behalf of the appellant that in a suit for possession brought on
the basis of title, the plaintiff cannot succeed unless he proves his title to
the suit property as well as its possession within twelve years. According to
the appellant, except in a suit under Section 9 of the 6 Specific Relief Act,
the plaintiff for succeeding in the suit, has to prove both existing title to
the suit property and its possession within twelve years.
We are unable to
accept this contention as correct.
In our opinion the
possession of the plaintiff prior to 1945 is a good title against all but the
true owner. The defendants who are mere trespassers cannot defeat the
plaintiff's lawful possession by ousting him from the suit property. Possessory
title is a good title as against everybody other than the lawful owner."
11.
Mr.
Nageshwar Rao, however, drew our attention to a decision of this Court in
Ramchandra Sakharam Mahajan v. Damodar Trimbak Tanksale (Dead) & Ors.
[(2007) 6 SCC 737], wherein it was held :
"13. The suit is
for recovery of possession on the strength of title. Obviously, the burden is
on the plaintiff to establish that title. No doubt in appreciating the case of
title set up by the plaintiff, the court is also entitled to consider the rival
title set up by the defendants. But the weakness of the defence or the failure
of the defendants to establish the title set up by them, would not enable the
plaintiff to a decree. There cannot be any demur to these propositions."
12.
The
said decision, thus, itself is an authority for the proposition that the court
is entitled to take into consideration the defence of the defendants.
The sole question
which arose for consideration before the Court therein was as to which of the
parties had a better title.
13.
For
the reasons aforementioned, there is no merit in this appeal. It is dismissed
accordingly.
As a finding of fact
has been arrived at by the courts below that the appellant had been prolonging
the hearing of the suit, he must pay and bear the costs of the first
respondent. Counsel's fee assessed at Rs.75,000/-.
.....................................J.
[S.B. Sinha]
.....................................J.
[Cyriac Joseph]
New
Delhi;
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