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It is necessary to set out briefly the history of this half a century old litigation I The seven suits out of which arise Appeals Nos. 68 to 74 were filed in September, 1904, by Maharaja Bahadur Singh in the court of the differ- ent Munsifs at Rampurhat, against Raja Ranjit Singh Bahadur, deceased, and others, for a declaration of his title to the lands mentioned in the different suits and for mesne profits from the year 1899 till recovery of possession. It was alleged that the lands in the several suits were chowkidari chakran lands within the plaintiff's patnidari, granted to his predecessors in interest on 14th November, 1853, by the ancestors of the defendant, that as the lands were in the possession of village watchmen on service tenures, they were excluded from assessment of land revenue and no rent was paid on them, that in the year 1899 under the provisions of sections 50 and 51 of Bengal Act VI of 1870 Government resumed the lands, terminated the service tenures and settled them with the zamindar, that in this situation the plaintiff as patnidar became entitled to their actual physi- cal possession, that the zamindar wrongfully took physical possession of them and denied the right of the plaintiff and hence he was entitled to the reliefs claimed. The suits were decreed on 17th August, 1905, and 19th August, 1905, by the two courts respectively and the decisions were affirmed on appeal by the District Judge. On special appeal to the High Court, the suits were remanded for trial on the ques- tion of limitation, and after remand they were dismissed by the trial court and the Court of appeal as barred by limita- tion. On second appeal, it was held that the suits were within limitation and were then decreed for the second time. This decision was affirmed on appeal to His Majesty in Council. The plaintiff actually obtained possession of the lands involved in these suits in August, 1913. An applica- tion was made for ascertainment of mesne profits on 6th November, 1918. This was resisted by the defendant and it was pleaded that the plaintiff was not entitled to inter- est on mesne profits, that the zamindar was entitled to receive the profits of the disputed lands and that deduc- tion should be made out of the amount of the mesne profits on account of munafa and the amount of chowkidari dues as well as cesses due to him or paid by him. Five years later, on 24th June, 1927, another set of objections was filed by the zamindar claiming deduction out of mesne profits by way of equitable set-off of the payments made by him subsequent to the date of delivery possession as well as for the amount of munafa that became payable to him after that date. After a prolonged enquiry the trial court on 18th December, 1937, decreed the plaintiff's claim for mesne profits after allow- ing the zamindar the deductions claimed by him up to the date of assessment of mesne profits but disallowed the amount claimed by way of equitable set-off for the subse- quent period. The learned District Judge on appeal reversed this decision and allowed the defendant the amount claimed by him by way of equitable set-off, subject, however, to the condition that the dues of the defendant should be deducted from the dues of the plaintiff till the defendant's dues were wiped off. The relevant part of his judgment runs thus :--

"The broad fact is that they (plaintiffs) have been in possession of the lands since 1910 and have been in enjoy- ment of rent from the tenants from that date and according to law they are not entitled to possess the land uncondi- tionally. Now that all the facts are before the court and the time has come for final adjustment of accounts between the parties the court should try to do substantial justice between the parties. It is not sufficient answer to say that the plea of equitable set-off was not raised in the beginning. The circumstances in all these cases are pecul- iar and it could hardly be expected that such plea would have been taken in the very beginning. The course of liti- gation in these cases has not run along easy and smooth channels: on the contrary its course has been extremely tortuous and disturbed frequently by con- flicting decisions. No one could have reason-ably antici- pated in the beginning that the litigation would be pro- tracted in this extraordinary way. It is the duty of the court to take notice of the subsequent events in order to do justice between the parties ...... As we are dealing with the question of equitable set-off, no question of time- barred debts or unascertained sum can arise ...... The plea of equitable set-off in respect of time-barred debts can be set up as a shield by way of defence nor can any question of payment of court-fees arise. There is, in my opinion, no substantial difference in the character of the respective parties during the entire period and it would be futile to make an attempt at distinction by oversubtle argument where there is really no difference in substance. There is considerable force in the argument advanced on the side of the appellant, namely, the appellant's claim to the equitable set-off is really in the nature of cross-demand arising out of the same transaction and connected in its nature and circumstances ......From whatever standpoint the matter may be looked at I am of the opinion that the claim of the appellant for equitable set-off for the subsequent period by way of deduction of the chowkidari revenue and cess paid by him as well as on account of munafa should be allowed. This amount will also carry interest at 6 per cent per annum up to date. The subsequent period means the period since the date of delivery of possession up to 1927-

On 8th December, 1922, the plaintiffs filed applications in these suits for ascertainment of mesne profits for the years 1906 to 1910. Objections were taken on behalf of the defendant on the 17th April, 1923, and it was contended that the plaintiffs may be allowed mesne profits to the extent of the amount that would be found due after deduction of the amount of rent to which the defendant was entitled in re- spect of the lands in suit according to the judgment of the munsif. On the 28th May, 1927, another application was filed by the zamindar claiming deduction by way of equitable set-off of the amounts due to him for rent from 1910 onwards and on account of subsequent payment made by him towards revenue and cesses. After a prolonged enquiry the munsif ultimately on the 18th December, 1937, decreed the plaintiff's claim for mesne profits after allowing deduc- tions for the amounts claimed by the defendant up to the date of delivery of possession. He held that the appellant was not entitled to get any amount by way of equitable set- off in respect of sums of money spent by him in payment of revenue and cesses or for the amount of munafa or profits for the period subsequent to the date of delivery of posses- sion. The District Judge on appeal by his judgment dated the 16th December, 1938, allowed the claim of equitable set-off for the period subsequent to delivery of possession and directed that "from the plaintiffs dues, the dues of the defendant are to be deducted and if after these deduc- tions any sum is due to the plaintiffs they will get a decree for that sum. If it is found on calculations in some cases that the dues of the defendant exceed the dues of the plaintiffs, in such cases the prayer of the plaintiffs for mesne profits must be dismissed." Against this decision special appeals were preferred to the High Court and by the judgment under appeal the decision of the trial court was restored. Applications were then made for leave to appeal to His Majesty in Council and those were allowed and a certificate was granted for pre- ferring those appeals.. Because of the abolition of the jurisdiction of the Privy Council those appeals are now before us for decision.

On the question of future interest payable on the decretal amount, the learned District Judge observed as follows :--

"I may state, however, at this stage that if I were to rule out the fact that I am allowing the claim of the appel- lant for equitable set-off, I would have allowed interest to the plaintiffs at the uniform rate of 4 per cent. per annum throughout, i.e., from the beginning of the Washilat period up to date. As I am allowing the prayer for equitable set- off, I am of opinion, however, that interest at the usual rate at 6 per cent. per annum should be granted for the whole of this period."