SIVA KANTA BARUA AND ORS. Vs. RAJANIRAM NATH AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a second appeal from the judgment and decree of the learned District Judge, A. V. D., dated 13th August 1947, by which he affirmed the judgment and decree of the trial Court which had dismissed the plaintiffs' suit with costs against the contesting defendants.

(2.) IT appears that an appeal against the decision of the trial Court, dated 24th November 1941, was preferred to the then District Judge, A. V. D., Mr. N. L. Hindley who delivered judgment on 23rd March 1942. On a second appeal preferred to the High Court of Calcutta against the decision of Mr. Hindley, Biswas and Blank JJ. remanded the appeal with the following, among other directions:

(3.) THE facts material for the appeal are these. One Phanidhar Barua had 2 sons - -Payodhar (defendant 4) and Lakshmidhar (plaintiff 1). Plaintiff 2, one Premodhar, is the son of Payodhar (defendant 4). Phanidhar left a will, dated 2nd of chaitra, 311 B. S., by which be left some 733 bighas of land to Lakshmidhar, and 564 bighas to Payodhar, and in respect of 700 other bighas, he created an endowment for the maintenance of namghar and appointed Payodhar as the Manager. The income from the 700 bighas was to be devoted to the maintenance of the namghar and meeting expenses connected with the lighting of lamps and smearing of the floor with wet earth. Panidhar Barua lived for some 6 years after the making of the will. During his lifetime, he had installed in the namghar, a manuscript of the 10th canto of the "Dashamskanda Bhagabat Gita" given to him by his spiritual preceptor. The sacred manuscript, so enshrined in the namghar, was to be maintained from the income of the endowment which is said to have been in the neighbourhood of Rs. 200 per annum.