NARAYAN MANJAYA Vs. SHRI RAMCHANDRA DEVASTHAN, MOKTESARS GANPAYA GOVIND SHETTI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The plaintiffs sue to recover possession of a piece of land and also rent, and they have been met with the plea that the land is held by the defendants under a mulgeni lease granted by Krishna Swami, and that all rent has been discharged.

(2.) It has, however, been held by the lower Appellate Court that the leased land belonged to the temple of which Krishna Swami was the manager, and that the lease is not now binding on the plaintiffs, the present managers. In so holding, the defendants plea of limitation has been determined to be of no avail. Assuming, then, that the lease was invalid, the only question before us is whether the defendants plea of limitation is sound.

(3.) The lease is dated 1845 and purports to create a mulgeni interest at a rent of 8 mooras of rice. In 1854 there was litigation regarding the rent of the leased laud brought by the then manager against a predecessor of the defendant. The defendant in that litigation asserted the mulgeni character of the lease and in the end the suit was withdrawn.