Privy Council Court October 1939 Judgments

A. Ranganatham Chetti and Others Vs. M. Ethirajulu Nayudu

Court: Privy Council

Reported in: AIR1940PC17

LORD THANKERTON: This is an appeal from a judgment and decree of the High Court of Judicature at Madras, in its civil appellate jurisdiction, dated 31st March 1937, which affirmed a judgment and decree of that Court, in its ordinary original civil jurisdiction, dated 8th October 1936. In the suit, which was filed on 25th January 1933, the respondent, as plaintiff, seeks delivery of possession by the appellants of a plot of land in Muthiappan Street, Georgetown, Madras, and the superstructure thereon, mesne profits, and a declaration as to the amount payable to the appellants as the market value of the superstructure, in terms of a lease by the respondent to the appellant's father and predecessor-in-title for a term of ten years, which expired on 30th September 1932. The only question in the appeal is whether the appellants' claim that the Madras City Tenants' Protection Act 1921 (Act 3 of 1922) is applicable in the present case is well founded. Both Courts below have rejected this cont...

Jadunath Roy and Others Vs. Parameswar Mullick and Others

Court: Privy Council

SIR GEORGE RANKIN: By three English mortgages executed in 1923 and 1924 one Bhuban Mohan Mullick (a Hindu governed by the Dayabhaga) mortgaged to appellant 1 and the father of the other four appellants his one-eighth share in certain immovable property. The capital sums secured amounted to Rs. 2,35,000. On 24th April 1925 he died intestate, leaving him surviving a widow, Sm. Annabati Dassi, a minor son Biswanath and an unmarried daughter Sm. Parbati Dassi (also a married daughter who need not here be further mentioned). By the decree under appeal which is dated 28th January 1937 it has been held by the High Court at Fort William in Bengal that the maintenance of the widow and unmarried daughter is a charge upon the interest of the mortgagees under the mortgages. This conclusion is prima facie opposed to the rights of the parties; indeed it does not in the end appear to have been doubted by the Courts in India that while the ladies would have a claim to a charge upon any property coming...

Francis Day and Hunter Ltd. Vs. Twentieth Century Fox Corporation Ltd. ...

Court: Privy Council

LORD WRIGHT: In 1892 a song entitled "The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo" was published in London. It consisted of three verses, with a chorus and was written and composed by Fred Gilbert. Many people remember the original publication. Both words and music were of the most commonplace character, but the music went with a jaunty swing which gave it great vogue and popularity, especially when performed by Charles Coborn. The song consisting of words and music was duly registered at Stationers Hall in London and acquired copyright under the Copyright Act of 1842. But the performing right was not acquired, because of the failure to comply with the conditions imposed by the English Copyright (Musical Compositions) Act, 1882, which required that the proprietor of the copyright if he desired to acquire and retain the right of public representation or performance should print upon the title page of every published copy a notice to the effect that the right of public representation or pe...

S.R.M.S. Chethambaram Chettiar Vs. Loo Thon Poo

Court: Privy Council

LORD FAIRFIELD: This is a consolidated appeal from the decision of the Court of Appeal at Johore Bahru in the State of Johore reversing the decision of the trial Judge, Mills J. It may be convenient to say at once that their Lordships are satisfied that the judgment of the trial Judge was wrong that its reversal by the Court of Appeal was right and ought to be affirmed, except in one respect which will be dealt with later in this judgment. It will save their Lordships the trouble of stating the names of appellants and respondents, where they differ, if they refer to the appellants collectively as the moneylenders and the respondents as the borrowers. By originating summonses dated 23rd November 1936, the moneylenders made application to the Court of the Judge at Johore Bahru for an order for the borrowers to show cause why the several rubber estates which had been charged to the moneylenders by certain instruments of charge should not be sold at public auction, subject to the terms sta...

Probodh Kumar Das and Others Vs. Dantmara Tea Co. and Others

Court: Privy Council

LORD MACMILLAN: This appeal relates, to a tea garden in the district of Chittagong, known as the Kaiyacherra Tea Estate, which at one time belonged to the Kaiyacherra Tea Co. Ltd. The estate was mortgaged to Messrs. Gillanders, Arbuthnot and Co. of Calcutta who in 1930 obtained an order for the compulsory winding-up of the Tea Company. Thereafter the estate was put up to auction by the liquidators and purchased by Messrs. Gillanders, Arbuthnot and Co. Without obtaining any conveyance in their favour Messrs. Gillanders, Arbuthnot and Co. on 10th October 1931, by an interchange of letters of offer and acceptance agreed to sell the estate to one S. N. Roy, who paid the first instalment of the price and entered into possession. No conveyance was ever executed in pursuance of this contract of sale but the plaintiffs in the present suit, now the appellants, claim to have acquired at least in part the purchaser's rights under it. The estate has been the subject of a complicated series of tran...

Chandan Mull Indra Kumar and Others Vs. Chiman Lal Girdhar Das Parekh ...

Court: Privy Council

LORD ROMER: This is an appeal from a judgment and decree of the High Court of Judicature at Patna dated 1st April 1937 which reversed a judgment and decree of the Subordinate Judge of Dhanbad dated 21st February 1933 and dismissed the appellants' suit. The question for decision is whether the appellants or some of them are entitled to recover damages from the respondents by reason of the respondents having cut and removed coal under a certain area of land which will be described later. The appellants' claim to the coal in question is founded upon a lease or rather a sub-lease dated 17th July 1908 (hereinafter called the sub-lease) whereby there was demised to the Phularitand Coal Company Limited (hereinafter called the Phularitand Company) coal under the land described in Sch. 3 thereunder written and also delineated and described in the map or plan thereto annexed and thereon coloured blue. Amongst the land described in Sch. 3 was land situate in the mauza Ganeshpur and described ther...

Babu Bhagwan DIn and Others Vs. Gir Har Saroop and Others

Court: Privy Council

SIR GEORGE RANKIN: On 14th April 1930, the first two appellants (uncle and nephew) filed before the District Judge at Lucknow an application under S. 3, Charitable and Religious Trusts Act (14 of 1920) for an order directing accounts to be furnished in respect of a certain temple in Lucknow together with land and houses adjacent thereto and occupied therewith. The principal deity is Bhaironji and from this idol the temple takes its name but there are other idols also in different parts of the temple compound, which is now of an area variously stated as about four bighas or 16 biswas. The respondents to the application were five in number, three men and two women : with certain other members of their family they are now respondents before the Board in this consolidated appeal. They claim to be direct descendants of one Daryao Gir to whom a grant was made in 1781 of the land now in question by the then reigning Nawab of Oudh. It has been found and it does not appear to be in doubt that t...