BADRI NARAIN JHA AND OTHERS versus RAMESHWAR DAYAL SINGH AND OTHERS.

Citation: [1951] 1 S.C.R. 153 · Decided: 05-02-1951 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: MEHR CHAND MAHAJAN · Disposal: Dismissed
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Judgment (excerpt)

S.C.R. 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
153 
accordingly allow the appeal, set aside the judgment 
and decree of the High Court and restore the decree of 
the courts ·below. The appellants will be entitled to 
costs throughout. 
Appeal allowed. 
Agent for the appellant : R. C. Prasad. 
Agent for the respondent : S. P. Varma. 
BADRI NARAIN JHA AND OTHERS 
"· 
RAMESHWAR DAYAL SINGH AND OTHERS. 
rsAIYID FAZL Au, MEHAR CHAND MAHAJAN, 
MuKHERJEA and CHANDRASEKHARA A1YAR JJ.] 
Landlord and tenant-Merger-One of several ioint holders 
of mokarrari interest acquiring portion of lakhra; interest-No 
· merger-Partition amongst lessees 
inter sc--lntegrity of lease, 
qua lessor, not affected. 
If a lessor purchases the whole of the lessee's interest, the 
lease is extinguished by merger, but there can be no merger or 
extinction where one of several joint holders of the mokarrari 
interest purchases portion of the lakhraj interest. 
A partition inter se amongst several mokarraridars does not 
in any way affect the integrity of the tenancy or make each 
holder of an interest in it a separate holder of a different tenancy, 
and 
notwithstanding 
such partition 
the mokarraridars remain 
liable qua the lessor or the payment of the whole rent as one 
tenant. 
White v. Tyndall (13 App. Cas. 263) referred to. 
CIVIL 
APPELLATE 
JuRismcnoN : Appeal from 
a 
judgment and decree of the High Court of Judicature 
at Patna dated 14th February, 1946, in Appeal from 
Original Decree No. 117 of 1942 arising out of Title 
Suit No. 9 -0f 1939 : Civil Appeal No. 40 of 1950. 
S. C. Misra for the appellant. 
N. C. Chatterjee (P. B. Gangoli, with him) for the 
respondent. 
1951 
Rai Brij Raj 
Krishna and 
Another 
v. 
S.K. Shaw' 
and BrolhlTs. 
19~1 
Feb. 5. 
1951 
Bodri Natayan 
.. lo,,,.,, 
v. 
Ramesluo01 
Dayal Singh 
arul 01/urs. 
Mahajan]. 
154 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[1951] 
1951. February 5. The judgment of the Court was 
delivered by 
MAHAJAN J.-Th.is appeal arises out of Suit No. 9 of 
1939 instituted in the Court of the Subordinate Judge 
of Palamau by the appellants against the respondents 
for a number of declarations in respect to the title to 
certain lands and for an injunction restraining the 
respondents from proceeding with a rent suit. 
The 
suit was decreed by the Subordinate Judge but on 
appeal this decision was reversed by the High Court 
of Judicature at Patna and the appellants' suit was 
dismissed. 
The salient facts of the case are as follows : Village 
Darha belonged to a family of Pathaks as their ancest-
ral lakhraj. 
Over a hundred years ago the Pathaks 
granted the entire village in mokarrari to the ancestors 
of the family of Singhas (defendants' first and second 
parties) at an annual jama of Rs. 24. 
The mokarrari 
interest eventually devolved on three branches of the 
Singha family, each branch getting in the following 
proportions : Parameshwar Dayal and others, defend-
ants' first party, to the extent of six annas ; Bisheswar 
Dayal Singh, defendants' second party, to the extent 
of eight annas; and Madho Saran Singh, to the extent 
of two annas. 
Subsequently, the two annas share of 
Madho Saran Singh was purchased by Hiranand Jha, 
father of the plaintiffs, jointly with Durganand Jha, 
and Dharam Dayal. Dharam Dayal was a mere bena-
midar for Hiranand Jha. 
On the 5th June, 1916, Bisheshwar Dayal Singh 
purchased six anna share in the lakhraj interest from 
Deolal Pathak and others and on the 9th February, 
1917, he purchased another two anna share from Man-
di! Pathak. 
By virtue of these purchases he came to 
own the lakhraj interest to the extent of eight anna 
share. 
He already held the mokarrari interest to the 
same extent which had devolved on him by inheritance. 
Some time in the year 1917 or 1918 Hiranand Jha 
and Durganand Jha, who had acquired by purchase 
two anna mokarrari interest of Madho Saran Singh 
S.C.R. 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
155 
purchased in aecution of a rent decree the raiyati 
interest in the whole village and came into possession 
of it. 
They thus became mokarraridars of two anna 
share and raiyats of sixteen annas of the village lands. 
In the year 1918, Title Suit No. 59 of 1918 was insti-
tuted in the court of the Subordinate Judge of Palamau 
for partition of the lands situate in several villages and 
belonging to the family of the defendants' first and 
second parties. 
The Jhas were impleaded as defendants 
in the suit, being co-sharers in part of the property in 
suit. 
This suit was
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