TMI Blog1958 (5) TMI 49X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , Guntur, in O.S. No. 112 of 1945. 2. The question that arises in the appeal is whether the High Court had jurisdiction to interfere with the findings of the learned District Judge in exercise of its power under Section 100, Code of Civil Procedure. 3. The case is a simple one : The Plaintiff-Appellant is the deity Sri Pattabhirama-swami of Narasaraopet, represented by Dharmakartha Nagasarapu Subbarayudu. The Plaintiff's case is that property to the extent of 12 acres and 30 cents, bearing survey number 1032/B was dedicated to the deity in 1868 by the members of the Behara family, that the land has ever since been in the enjoyment of the deity, that at some time-not exactly known when-the then trustees entered into a convenient ar ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... circumstantial, to render it probable that the suit land was gifted or dedicated by the members of the Behara family to the Plaintiff-deity and was in the possession and enjoyment of the Bhajantris, Mangalis and Dedekulas, only as remuneration for the service being rendered by them and as servants of the Plaintiff-deity and as land belonging to the deity and in the right of the deity and not in their own right. 7. On the basis of the appreciation of the evidence, the learned Subordinate Judge held that the Plaintiff had title to the suit land. On issue 2, he held that Defendants 6 to 23 were in possession on behalf of the deity and therefore the Plaintiff was in possession within 12 years prior to the date of the suit. On issue 3, he fou ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... iff has failed to prove the title of the deity. On that finding the suit was dismissed with costs throughout. 10. The learned Counsel for the Appellant contends that the High Court has exceeded its jurisdiction under Section 100, Code of Civil Procedure, in reversing the finding of fact arrived at by the learned District Judge on an appreciation of the documentary, oral and circumstantial evidence in the case. The learned Counsel for the Respondents, on the other hand, seeks to support the judgment of the High Court on the ground that the learned Judge based his judgment on the interpretation of the recitals in the document, which have been wrongly construed by the learned Subordinate Judge, and therefore the question raised in the secon ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t will be seen from the aforesaid narration of facts that the High Court interfered with the finding of fact given by the District Judge on the question of title by taking a different view of the evidence accepted by the learned District Judge. While the Subordinate Judge and on appeal the District Judge held, on a consideration of the relevant evidence, that the Behara family ceased to have any interest-in the suit property, at any rate by the year 1886, the learned Judge of the High Court on a consideration of the same evidence came to the conclusion that the suit property continued to be the property of the Behara family till the year 1906. Whereas the genuineness of Exhibits P-13 to P-17 was not questioned in the Courts below and indeed ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ross the error may seem to be. The principle laid down in this decision has been followed in innumerable cases by the Privy Council as well as by different High Courts in this country. Again the Judicial Committee in Midnapur Zamindari Co. Ltd. v. Uma Charan 29 Cal WN 131 : AIR 1923 PC 187, further elucidated the principle by pointing out: If the question to be decided is one of fact it does not involve an issue of law merely because documents which are not instruments of title or otherwise the direct foundation of rights but are merely historical documents, have to be construed. Nor does the fact that the finding of the first appellate Court is based upon some documentary evidence make it any the less a finding of fact (See ILR 11 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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