Privy Council Court July 1935 Judgments

Steamer philip T. Dodge Vs. Dominion Bridge Co. Ltd. and Others

Court: Privy Council

Lord Atkin: This is an appeal from the judgment of the President of the Exchequer Court of Canada dismissing an appeal from the local Judge in Admiralty for Quebec in favour of the plaintiffs, the present respondents. The respondents are the builders and owners of a bridge across the York River at Gaspe in the Province of Quebec. The claim in the action is based upon the allegation that the defendant vessel when passing under the bridge collided with it and carried away one of the bascules owing to the negligent navigation of those on board. Of the fact of the collision and of the damage there is no dispute. The question arises on issue of negligence. The bridge, which was in the course of construction at the time of the collision, connects Gaspe Harbour with Gaspe village, running about north and south over a distance of about 770 feet. It consists of four spans and what is called in the proceedings a draw fitted with two bascules which are raised for the passage of ships. On the day ...

Atma Ram Vs. Beni Prasad and Others

Court: Privy Council

Sir John Wallis: This is an appeal from the judgment of the High Court at Allahabad in the exercise of its powers of revision under S. 115, Civil PC and raises questions as to the High Court's interpretation of the section, and as to the claim of a next reversioner to carry on at his own expense a suit which had been filed by the Collector under the local Court of Wards Act as representing two widows for possession of the suit properties which were alleged to form part of the estate of their deceased husband, in consequence of the Collector having applied to withdraw the suit. The suit had been instituted by the Collector of Saharanpur under S. 55, United Provinces Court of Wards Act on behalf of Jaimala Kuer and Chando Kuer, who were the surviving widows of Janeshwar Das and are hereinafter referred to as the widows, to recover certain properties in possession of three of the defendants which were alleged to be part of the estate of their deceased husband. The case made in the plaint ...

(Kunwar) Rameshwar Bakhsh Singh and Others Vs. (Thakurain) Balraj Kuar ...

Court: Privy Council

Sir Shadi Lal: On 4th June 1918, one Babu Indarsen Singh, a talukdar of the estate of Dhaurwa situate in the Province of Oudh, died, leaving him surviving two widows, Annapurna Kuar and Balraj Kuar, and two daughters, namely, Brijraj Kuar by his deceased wife Jadunath Kuar, and Hemraj Kuar by his wife Balraj Kuar. The senior widow, Annapurna Kuar, succeeded to the entire property of her deceased husband and on 22nd November 1923, she made a will by which she devised the property in dispute to the junior widow, Balraj Kuar, for her life, and, after the latter's death, to the two daughters of her husband in equal shares as absolute owners. In June 1929, Annapurna Kuar died, and the estate left by her was claimed by the surviving widow, but her claim was resisted by the sons of Babu Indarsen Singh's daughter Brijraj Kuar. The revenue authorities, who dealt with the dispute in the. first instance, accepted the counter claim made by the sons of Brijraj Kuar; and directed that the mutation o...

Raoul Tremblay Vs. Duke Price Power Co. Ltd.

Court: Privy Council

Reported in: AIR1935PC197

Lord Atkin: Their Lordships do not require to hear any argument from the respondents because they have come to the conclusion that on the point on which alone special leave to appeal was given in this case the appellant fails. The appeal is brought by the appellant, who was the owner of land adjacent to, or in the vicinity of, Lake St. John in Quebec. He had a right to compensation for the value of certain land, which the respondents, who are a Hydro-Electric Power Company, had the right to flood, by reason of powers which were given to them by statute to raise the level of the lake and its tributaries up to a contour of 17.5 ft. above the datum line mentioned in the proceedings. The appellant possessed land, which he cultivated as a farmer, which sloped downwards towards the north until it got to a relatively low level, somewhere below the contour of 10 ft. above the datum line, and he claimed compensation for the whole of his land that had been flooded up to the 17.5 ft. contour, and...

Lakhmi Chand Vs. Mt. Anandi

Court: Privy Council

Sir Shadi Lal: On the 5th June 1915, two brothers, Baldeo Sahai and Seth Lakshmi Chand, who constituted a joint Hindu family governed by the Mitakshara school of Hindu law, executed a document providing for the disposal of their estate. It was presented for registration, on the 8th June, at the office of the sub-registrar, and was duly registered on the 9th June. This document, which has been variously described as an agreement or a joint will of the two brothers, stated, inter alia, that, in the event of one broner dying without leaving a male issue, his widow's name should be substituted for that of the deceased husband in the public records relating to the estate. Her interest in the estate was defined in the eighth paragraph of the instrument, and, as there is a controversy between the parties about the interpretation to be placed upon it, it is necessary to set it out in extenso: (8) We, both the parties, have, up to this time been jointly managing all the estate affairs and shall...

Hoe Kim Being Vs. Maung Ba Chit

Court: Privy Council

Sir Shadi Lal: This appeal from a judgment of the High Court of Judicature at Rangoon raises the question whether the property in certain paddy belonging to one Maung Po Ni had passed to the appellant, Hoe Kim Seing, before the date on which the estate of the former vested in the Official Receiver who was appointed by the Court adjudging him an insolvent. The circumstances, which have led to the dispute, may be briefly stated. Maung Po Ni (hereinafter called Po Ni) was a cultivator of paddy in Burma and also dealt in the purchase and sale of that commodity. He made his purchases with borrowed capital, and in 1930 he was indebted to several persons, including the appellant who was a merchant doing business on a large scale in the purchase of paddy. He had advanced about two lakhs of rupees to Po Ni for purchase of paddy, which was to be delivered by the debtor to the creditor in satisfaction of the debt. It appears that Po Ni was unable to discharge his liabilities, and accordingly on 2...

Advocate-general of Bombay Vs. Phiroz Rustomji Bharucha and Others

Court: Privy Council

Lord Blanesburgh: Their Lordships after hearing these petitions came to the conclusion that in none of them were the circumstances such as to justify them in advising His Majesty to grant special leave to appeal, and they gave expression to that conclusion. Their Lordships now propose to state in a few words certain considerations which were present to their minds in reaching their decision. It is plain that the Judges of the High Court held that the fact that the advocates concerned had been convicted of a criminal offence was evidence of their misconduct within the meaning of S.10 (1), Bar Councils Act, and that this misconduct, though not committed in their professional capacity, entitled the Court to take disciplinary action against them. With this view their Lordships agree. The learned Judges, in the exercise of their statutory discretion, then proceeded to consider whether in the circumstances the misconduct so proved called for any disciplinary action, whether in the nature of ...

Satindra Nath Choudhury Vs. Jatindranath Choudhury and Another

Court: Privy Council

Sir Shadi Lal: On 17th February 1915, one Rai Hari Charan Choudhury, a rich land-owner of Nakipur in the Presidency of Bengal, died leaving him surviving a widow Katyayani Debi, and two sons Rai Satindra Nath Choudhury and Rai Jatindra Nath Choudhury. For about six years the sons with their mother lived together amicably, and jointly managed and owned the estate left by the deceased. In March 1921, they effected a partition of the joint estate; and, while the immovable property was divided equally between the sons, the mother agreed to receive, in lieu of her share in the inheritance, an annuity of Rs.12,000 from each of her sons during her life-time. The deed of partition, which was executed and registered on 18th March 1921, contained, inter alia, a promise by the sons to pay the annuity in two installments, and interest thereon at 1 per cent per mensem, in the event of failure to pay the money on the due date. As a security for the regular payment of the money, each son created in f...

(Sahu) Ramjimal Vs. Riaz-ud-dIn and Others

Court: Privy Council

Reported in: AIR1935PC169

Sir Shadi Lal: This consolidated appeal arises out of two suits for pre-emption in respect of the sales of two agricultural holdings situate in Mahal Zard of the Village Babaina in the Agra Province of India. The trial Judge dismissed both the suits, but the High Court on appeal granted decrees for pre-emption, on payment of certain sums of money which are no longer in dispute. The vendees have each preferred an appeal to His Majesty in Council, and their appeals, involving as they do, the same points for determination, have been consolidated into one appeal. During the pendency of the appeal the successful pre-emptor sold, on 27th May 1932, the lands, in respect of which he had obtained decrees, to one Shyam Lal who, as alleged by the vendees in the trial Court, had instigated the plaintiff to bring the suits and financed the litigation, in order to get the property ultimately from him. After making the transfer to Shyam Lal, the pre-emptor entered into a compromise with the vendees, ...

Commissioner of Income-tax, Bihar and Orissa Vs. Kameshwar Singh

Court: Privy Council

Lord Macmillan: The present appeal arises from an assessment to income-tax made upon the respondent for the year 1929-30 and the only question before their Lordships relates to an item of Rs.91,283 included in the assessment. The appellant maintains that this item, the receipt of which is admitted, forms part of the taxable profits or gains of the business of money-lending carried on by the respondent; the respondent maintains, and the High Court has held, that it is "agricultural income" within the meaning of the Indian Income-tax Act and consequently exempt from income tax. In order to determine which of these contentions is right, it is necessary to describe briefly the transaction out of which this item of receipt arose. It appears that in 1929 the respondent's father, who carried on an extensive money-lending business, made a loan of 18 lacs of rupees, with the sanction of the High Court at Patna, to Thakurain Kusum Kumari, widow and administratrix of the late proprietor of the es...