TMI Blog1997 (7) TMI 692X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aid Durga Devi purporting to fulfil her husband's desire of taking in adoption one Balwant Singh and Kartar Singh (both minors) expressed her desire to mutate the land in favour of the said minors Balwant Singh and Kartar Singh. Accordingly, the mutation was effected on 19.7.1954 under Mutation No. 1311. One of the reversioners of Khushal Singh, y, Chet Singh filed a suit bearing no. 194 of 1995 in the court of Senior Sub-Judge, Gurdaspur praying for a declaration that the mutation of `gift-deed' dated 19.7.1954 would not affect the reversionary rights of the plaintiff after the death or after the re-marriage of Durga Devi. In the said suit the validity of the adoption of Balwant Singh and Kartar Singh was one of the issues and the trial court found that the alleged adoption was not proved and the mutation would not bind the reversionary rights of the plaintiff in that suit after the death of the widow Durga Devi or after her marriage according to custom. The defendants in that suit, the predecessor in title of the appellants herein (some of them), challenged the judgment and the decree of the trial court by filing Civil Appeal No. 88 of 1956 before the District Ju ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... adoption having been found as not proved, the first mutation, namely, Mutation No. 1311 will have to be ignored an no title was passed on to the adoptees. In other words, it was pleaded that Durga Devi continued to be owner and in possession of the suit property notwithstanding Mutation No. 1311 dated 19.7.1954. In any case, it was further pleaded that by virtue of subsequent mutation bearing no. 1348, Durga Devi was put in possession and enjoyment of the suit lands and, therefore, she has every right to execute the gift-deeds challenged in the suit. The trial court on the basis of the pleadings framed eleven issues and on the basis of the oral evidence an documents filed before it and on appreciation of pleading found that in view of the decree in the earlier court proceedings the alienation by way of mutation gift by Durga Devi would not be binding on the reversionary rights of the plaintiffs after her death. The decree in the earlier proceedings confirmed by the appellate court operates as n against the defendants in the suit. As a result of mutation on 19.7.1954 under Mutation No. 1311, Durga Devi was divested of her title to the suit property and consequentially dives ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e delay and consequently set aside the abatement, the appeal as a whole will not stand abated, but only the properties dealt with under the gift deed dated 9.9.70 executed in favour of Makan Singh alone will be affected and to that extent, the appeal may stand abated. We have considered the rival submission. We find from the facts that the deceased Makan Singh alone was the donee of specific items of properties under gift deed dated 9.9.70 and this possession and enjoyment of properties and dependent of others. Therefore, his death would not abate the whole of the appeal. In our view, the decree is divisible being a decree in favour of serval reversioners against several independent donees having specified shares in indentifiable properties. We are not satisfied with the reason given for the inordinate delay of more than 25 years and, therefore, the appeal stands abated in respect of properties given to the deceased-Makan Singh under the gift deed dated 9.9.70. Now coming to the merits, though, Mr. Sanyal argued extensively concerning various points said to arise out of the judgments of the trial court, appellate court and High Court, were are of the view that sin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the date of first mutation viz 19.7.54 and the second re-mutation was not legal and valid in law. We have considered the rival submissions and we are of the view that Mr. Sanyal is right in his contention that the courts were not correct in assuming that as a result of mutation no. 1311 dated 19.7.54, Durga Devi lost her title from that date and possession also was given to the persons in whose favour mutation was effected. In Smt. Sawarni's case, Pattanaik J., speaking for the Bench has clearly held as follows:- Mutation of a property in the revenue record does not create or extinguish title nor has it nay presumptive value on title. It only enables the person in whose favour mutation is ordered to pay the land revenue in question. The learned Additional District Judge was wholly in error in coming to a conclusion that mutation in favour of Inder Kaur conveys title in her favour. This erroneous conclusion has vitiated the entire judgment. Applying the above legal position, we hold that the widow has not divested herself of the title in the suit property as a result of mutation no. 1311 dated 19.7.54. The assumption on the part of the courts below t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the suit property by treating the mutation as gift and conveying title. Further it has not applied uniform test in appreciating the mutation entries. In one place, the trial court has accepted mutation entries in toto even for conveying title but in the other place, the trial court was no prepared to accept the mutation entries by expressing some doubt about it. It is to be state that this court in Gurbaksh Singh v. Nikka Singh (1963 Supp. (1) SCR 55) has held that entries in mutation must be taken as correct unless the contrary is established. Here the trial court has shifted the burden on the appellants to prove the entries as correct. The trial court has failed to apply the same yardstick that it has applied to Mutation No. 1311 to Mutation No. 1348. Assuming for the sake of arguments, that Mutation No. 1348 was on the basis of misunderstanding of the judgment in the earlier proceedings, that having been allowed to remain unaltered without challenge, cannot be brushed aside as worth nothing. Anybody affected by such entries should have challenged the same as provide under the law. In the absence of that, the entries cannot be ignored. Be that as it may, we have already noticed t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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