Privy Council Court February 1939 Judgments

Ulagalum Perumal Sethurayar Vs. Rani Subbulakshmi Nachiar

Court: Privy Council

Sir George Rankin: This appeal concerns the succession to the impartible estate of Urkad in the District of Tinnevelly and is brought from a decree dated 19th March 1935 of the High Court of Madras affirming, upon the question now in dispute, the decree (23rd April 1931) of the Principal Subordinate Judge of Tinnevelly. Both Courts in India have held that upon the death in 1929 of Minakshi Sundara the estate of Urkad devolved upon his widow Rani Subbulakshmi Nachiar who was plaintiff in the suit and is respondent upon this appeal. The appellant is Ulagalum Perumal, the younger half brother of Minakshi Sundara, who was the first defendant in the suit. It is not now contended that the appellant and Minakshi Sundara were divided. The trial Court held that there had been a partition of the partible property of the joint family, but this finding was reversed by the High Court and is not appealed from. In 1902 the zamindar was S. Kotilinga Sethurayar (hereinafter called the settlor), a Hindu...

Simon Christopher Jayawardene Vs. Alfred Christy Jayawardene and Other ...

Court: Privy Council

Lord Porter: The appellant in this action, who was also the plaintiff, is one of the sons of the late J.V.G.A.W. Jayawardene, Gate Mudaliyar. The first three respondents are also his sons. The deceased man was apparently a considerable landowner in the Island of Ceylon, and amongst his other properties was tenant under the Crown by an indenture No. 29 executed on 29th October 1919, and on 23rd February 1920, by the respective parties, of a certain allotment of Crown land called Kajugahaudumulleduwa, Kajugahaudumullelanda and Galagodakele in Maggon Badda, Kalutara Totamune and Eladuwa Village, Iddagoda Pattu, Pasdun Korale West, Kalutara District, Western Province. The lease was entered into by the Governor of Ceylon on behalf of the Crown as lessor on the one part and by the deceased man as lessee (an expression which was stated to include his heirs, executors, administrators and permitted assigns) of the other part. The estate was to be held in perpetuity subject to the covenants and ...

Vyricherla Narayana Gajapatiraju Vs. Revenue Divisional Officer, Vizag ...

Court: Privy Council

Lord Romer: This appeal is concerned with the question of what is the proper sum to be awarded to the appellant by way of compensation in respect of the compulsory acquisition by the Vizagapatam Harbour Authority of certain land of his adjoining the Harbour, the respondent being the representative of such authority for the purposes of this appeal. The circumstances in which the land was acquired are as follows: The Vizagapatam Harbour, the construction of which appears to have been begun in the year 1920, was formed by making excavations in swampy land situated to the south-west of the town of Vizagapatam and by dredging a deep water channel in the creek to the south of that town that led from the swampy land into the Bay of Bengal. On the south of the land acquired by the Harbour Authority for the purpose of these works is situated the property of the appellant known as the Lova Gardens. These gardens are formed by a valley which runs down from high ground on the south-west to low gro...

Mt. Wallan Vs. Fazla and Others

Court: Privy Council

Reported in: AIR1939PC114

Lord Romer: The question to be determined upon this appeal is whether the appellant or the respondents are entitled to succeed according to the Punjab Customary law to certain land of which one Sher Mohammad was possessed at the date of his death without issue in or about October 1929. The land, which is comprised in the Patti Daultani, in a village called Lilhani, had been acquired in the years 1879 and 1881 by one Yusaf and the appellant's claim to it can be conveniently illustrated as follows : Ahsan and Alla Baksh and any issue they may have had, appear to have pre-deceased Sher Mohammad. Now in the revised settlement made in 1890-91, being the first revised settlement made after Yusaf had acquired the property, the pedigree table of proprietors of the village contains the following : It would appear from this that Panah, the father of Yusaf, was the son of Neka and that Panah had a brother, Ahmed, whose descendants were proprietors in Patti Nasir Din. Who these descendants now are...

Anath Nath Biswas and Others Vs. Dwarka Nath Chakravarti and Others

Court: Privy Council

Sir George Rankin: In the books of the Collectorate of the 24-Parganas touzi No. 151 was an estate bearing a land revenue of Rs.39,786 and divided into two blocks. The larger block or Burra Hudda consisted of 104 villages scattered throughout the district and to it was allocated over Rupees 37,000 of the annual revenue. The smaller block or Chota Hudda consisted of seven villages: about Rs. 2000 of the revenue was allocated to it, and its lands lay on the outskirts of Calcutta. In each block the zamindary right was vested in a number of persons and in each a number of separate accounts had been opened under the Bengal Land Revenue Sales Act (11 of 1859). The three sets of plaintiffs-appellants now before the Board were all interested in Burra Hudda Rai Dwarka Nath Chakravarti Bahadur (respondent 1) was interested in both and had a separate account or accounts in each. In Burra Hudda he had an interest in some 30 villages : in Chota Hudda he had a one-half interest in respect of which h...

Richard Gillie Vs. Posho Ltd. (In Liquidation)

Court: Privy Council

Lord Porter: This is an appeal in forma pauperis by special leave from a decree of the Court of Appeal for Eastern Africa pronounced on 31st December 1932, dismissing the appellant's appeal from a decree of the Supreme Court of Kenya dated 16th July 1932. The facts giving rise to the dispute between the parties were as follows : The appellant arrived in Kenya towards the end of the year 1926 and was anxious to find a farm on which he could grow wheat. For that purpose he was sent to the office of the firm of W. C. Hunter and Co., a firm of land agents of whom Wilfred Clare Hunter was the senior partner. He had been told to see and did see and negotiate with Mr. Hunter personally some time towards the end of December 1926. In addition to being a member of the firm of land agents Mr. Hunter was also liquidator of the respondent firm Posho, Limited, and agent for sale of some nine farms belonging to that company. After the purchase of certain other farms had been discussed and rejected on...

Philip Graham Greenwood Vs. Philip Graham Greenwood and Others

Court: Privy Council

Lord Thankerton: This is an appeal from an order of the Supreme Court of Fiji, dated 27th September 1937, on an Originating Summons issued by the appellant as the surviving trustee of the estate of George Freeman Martin, deceased, on 12th August 1937. George Freeman Martin (hereinafter called "the testator"), died on 28th July 1912, leaving a will dated 13th June 1912; he died without issue, but survived by his wife, Catherine Helen Rose Annie Martin, and a number of brothers and sisters, including a sister, Elizabeth Martin. Under his will the testator appointed his wife and the appellant, who was his nephew, to be his trustees and executors, and he thereby gave all his property both real and personal to his trustees upon the trusts set out therein. Under these trusts, after payment of debts, etc. and delivery of a legacy of livestock, and subject to the payment of certain annuities, the widow enjoyed the use of the testator's household furniture and effects and house and buildings, a...