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Judgment
William Watkins Phillips, J.—In these second appeals, it is contended that the finding of the lower Courts that the suit lands constituted a
jaghir is incorrect. This would appear to be primarily a finding of fact but it has frequently been contended in this Court that when a finding of fact is
based upon the documents, that necessarily implies a further question of law. I am not saying that in this present case the argument has been put
forward in that broad form but it has been put forward before me very frequently. That it is thoroughly untenable is clear from the judgment of the
Privy Council in Midnapur Zemindary Co. Ltd. v. Umacharan Mandal 74 Ind. Cas. 482 : 45 M.L.J. 663 : 21 A.L.J. 723 : AIR 1923 P.C. 187 : 4
P.L.T. 627 : 33 M.L.T. 691 : (1923) M.W.N. 832 : 25 Bom. L.E. 1287 : 40 C.L.J. 16 : 29 C.W.N. 131 (P.C.) where a finding which was based
on documentary evidence alone was held to be a decision upon a question of fact, with which the Court could not interfere in second appeal. Their
Lordships remark:
It is clear, therefore, that unless it can be shown that he (namely the District Judge) has misdirected himself in point of law in dealing with this
question of fact upon this evidence, there is no ground for appealing from his decision upon the question of fact.
And again:
The suggestion is that it can be made to appear clearly from the construction of the documents prior to the ruffinama, that the present tenure can be
dated earlier than, the 6th March, 1884. That appears to their: Lordships to be nothing but a contention; that a different conclusion of fact might;
have been drawn from those documents.
In the present case, the District Judge has considered the various documents beginning from the year 1761 and has come to the conclusion that
the suit land is a jagir and, therefore, that it comes within the provisions of Section 3 (2) (c) of the Estates Land Act which relates to unsettled
palaiyams or jaghirs. There is no definition of the term ""Jaghir"" in the Estates Land Act or, so far as I know, in any other Legislative enactment and.
therefore, we are thrown back upon what are looked upon as authorities on the subject such as Wilson''s Glossory, Baden Powell''s ""Land
Tenures"" and Maclean''s ""Manual of Administration"" and the definitions given in these authorities have been considered by a Bench of this Court in
Sam v. Ramalinga Mudaliar 34 Ind. Cas. 803 : 40 M. 664 : 30 M.L.J. 600 and the definition of ""Jaghir"" has been there laid down. The District
Judge has considered all these definitions and has considered whether the facts in the present case bring the suit estate within the definition of
Jaghir"".
It is argued that the word ""Jaghir"" in Section 3(2)(c) must be interpreted as referring only to one class of jaghirs and not to another class of
jaghirs. I can see no ground whatever for saying that there are two classes of jaghirs. The act deals with jagirs and jaghirs alone. It is possible that
lands may be called jaghirs at times, which are not really jagirs but we have to see what the word means. The District Judge has accepted the
interpretation of the word by this Court, and after a consideration of the documents, has come to the conclusion that the suit estate comes within
the definition.
It is argued that the nature of the grant in this case which dates back to the 18th Century has not been definitely proved. It is true that there is no
direct evidence of the terms of the grant, for the grantees themselves have been unable to put forward such evidence, and therefore, one must look
to the circumstantial evidence for coming to a conclusion as to the nature of the tenure. The point has to be decided and must be decided on what
evidence is available. There is the evidence of history and there is the evidence of fact that this estate has been styled a jaghir at least from the year
1840 and that, although the Inam Commissioner at one time was inclined to consider it as a ""Devadayam Inam,"" he finally decided that it was a
grant which was outside the province of his department, and this apparently was the decision of this Court in a suit in 1866. it is, therefore,
impossible to Bay that, in considering the evidence, the Judge misdirected himself in point of law; and consequently his finding is a finding of fact
which is binding upon us here in second appeal and that finding must be accepted. On that finding, the appeals must fail.
It, however, appears that by some mistake that lower Court''s decree has not been drafted in accordance with the judgment and the plaintiff''s
suit was dismissed instead of an order being passed that the plaint should be returned for presentation to the proper Court, This modification must
be made in the decree and subject to that, the appeals are dismissed with costs. The civil revision petitions are also dismissed with costs. The Civil
Miscellaneous Petitions Nos. 456 to 462 of 1926 are not pressed and are dismissed with costs.
Krishnan Pandalal, J.
I also agree that there wan material before the learned District Judge from which he could have come to the conclusion that Mafooskhanpet was
a jaghir within the meaning of Section 3 (2) (c) of the Estates Land Act. Mafooskhan was the brother of the then Nawab. He brought the kudviram
rights in a portion of the Nayar village in 1761. It, is known that two years later this portion of the Nayar village was not handed over to the East
India Company along with the remainder of the Chingleput jaghir and it is also admitted that at no subsequent time has this property been subjected
to taxation. From that time onwards, both the melwaram and kudivaram rights have been joined in one hand. Then about 1840 we see that in the
paimash account the property was described as "" Mafooskhanpet jaghir "" and the owner as "" jaghirdar,"" In 1866 at the time of the Inam
Commission the property was described as "" Mafooskhanpet jaghir."" Therefore, in addition to the admitted fact that the Mafooskhan, the brother
of the then Nawab, was the grantee of the melwaram right and that he had previously bought the kudivaram right, there was also the fact
established in evidence that for a period of 80 years before the suit, the property had been regarded in Government account and by private parties
as a jaghir. The idea that it was an inam in the proper sense that is, an endowment to a charity, seems to have been at one time suggested but it
was negatived so early as 1867 when this Court found that it was not an endowment for the mosque, Mafooekhan seems to have perpetuated his
name by founding what subsequently came to be known as Mafoos-khanpet in the area which he acquired. He seems to have also built a mosque
there with the same object. I do not see why a gift by the Nawab to his near relation for the purpose of perpetuating his name or of winning his
good will should not come within the definition of the word ''jaghir'' as adopted by this Court in the decisions refer-red to by Mr. Varadachariar.
At any rate, all that the District Judge did was from these available materials to draw the inference that the gift to Mafooskaan was of such a
character as to fall within the definition of the word '' jaghir.'' I am not prepared to say that he was not entitled to do so in the circumstances. This is
sufficient to dispose of the second appeals.
I agree to the orders proposed by my learned brother.