HARIHAR DORA Vs. UPENDRA PATI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a Letters Patent appeal from a decision of Mohammad Noor J. in second appeal. The plaintiff brought the suit out of which this appeal arises against his cosharer gaontias for a sum said to be due as arrears of zabti bhogra. The plain, tiff was a cosharer gaontia and lambardar of village Kharmunda, whereas the defendants were his cosharer gaontias. In Government khalsa villages in the Sambalpur District there are gaontias who are village managers having proprietary rights in their homefarm lands. These lands are called the goantia's bhogra or sir lands. The cosharer gaontias are allowed 25 per cent, of the collections of the village as payment for their duties as managers of the village, and they are bound to make over the balance of the collections through the lambardar to the Government. The bhogra lands of each gaontia are assessed to revenue, and if the revenue payable on a particular gaontia's bhogra lands is equal to that particular gaontia's share in the 25 per cent, of the total village collections, then the gaontia has to pay over the whole of the collections made to the lambardar.

(2.) If the assessment on the bhogra lands is more than that particular gaontia's share in the 25 per cent, of the collections, the gaontia has to pay the lambardar not only the whole of the collections made but the difference between the amount assessed on his bhogra lands and his share of the 25 percent of the total village collections. On the other hand, if the assessment on the bhogra lands is less than his share of the 25 percent. of the village collections, the gaontia is entitled to deduct from the collections made the difference between his share of the 25 percent. of the village collections and the assessment on his bhogra lands. He, of course, has to pay the balance over to the lambardar. In oases where the assessment on the bhogra lands is greater than the gaontia's share of the 25 per cent, of the total collections, the difference is known as zabti bhogra. Where the gaontia is entitled to keep back money out of his collections to make up the difference between his share in 25 percent. of the collections and the assessment on his bhogra lands, the amount which he is entitled to keep back is known as puraskar.

(3.) In the present case the defendants share in the village was five annas four pies, and in lieu of this share, they were admittedly holding a hamlet of the village Kharmunda known as Darangapali. Zabti bhogra payable by the defendants was assessed at Rs. 52 per annum. According to the plain, tiff's case, he as lambardar had paid the whole of the revenue due from the gaontias to the Government, and, according to him, the defendants had refused to pay the amount claimed in this suit as zabti bhogra. The learned Munsif who heard the case at first instance, dismissed the plaintiff's claim for zabti bhogra but on appeal this decree was reversed, and the plaintiff's claim decreed. In second appeal Mohammad Noor J. affirmed the decree of the lower Appellate Court and dismissed the appeal. It has been argued before us that the amount of zabti bhogra alleged to be pay. able by the defendants was not satisfactorily proved in this case, The lower Courts relied upon a document (Ex. l) which is a table showing the zabti and puraskar lands pf village Kharmunda.