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tenant or a tenant of sir :"

The Tenancy Act having conferred heritable rights on the tenants to which s. 29 applied also laid down an order of succession in which the rights of the tenants would pass after the death of the tenant. Sections 36 and 37 of the Tenancy Act provided two different modes of devolution in the case of the death of a female tenant. Section 36 runs thus:

"36 (1) When a female tenant, other than a tenant mentioned in section 34, who either before or after the commencement of this Act has inherited an interest in a holding as a widow, as a mother, as a step-mother, as a father's mother, or, as a daughter dies or abandons such holding, or surrenders such holding, or a part of such holding or, in the case of a tenant inheriting as a widow or as a daughter, marries such holding or such part of such holding shall, not withstanding anything in section 45, devolve in accordance with the order of succession laid down in section 35 on the heir of the last male tenant, other than a tenant who inherited as a father's father under the provisions of that section.

x x x x "

Section 37 of the Tenancy Act runs-thus: "when a female tenant, other than a tenant mentioned in section 34 or section 36 dies, her interest in the holding shall devolve in accordance with the order of succession given below:-

(a) male lineal descendants in the male line of descent:

Provided that no member of this class shall inherit if any male descendant between him and the deceased is alive;

(b) husband;

Sections 172 and 174 of the Abolition Act, insofar as they are A relevant, may be extracted as follows:

"172. (1) When a bhumidhar sirdar or asami, who has after the date of vesting, inherited an interest in any holding-

"(a) as a widow, widow of a male lineal descendent, in the male line of descent, mother or fathers mother dies, marries, abandons or surrenders of , such holding or part thereof; or

(b) x x x the holding or the part shall devolve upon the nearest surviving heir (such heir being ascertained in accordance with the provisions of Section 171) or the last male bhumidhar, sirdar or asami.

Section 172 of the Abolition Act as extracted above provides that when a bhumidhar who has after the date of vesting inherited an interest in any holding dies the holding would devolve upon the heirs in accordance with the order of succession mentioned in s. 171 of the Abolition Act. It is manifest therefore that in order to determine the applicability of s. 172 of the Abolition Act we must go to the origin of the title of the bhumidhar or the main source from " which the bhumidhar has derived interest in the holding. It may be pertinent to note here that the statute uses the words "the holding or the part shall devolve" to denote that if it is found that a widow has inherited an interest in the holding from her husband, then it is the holding that devolves and not interest of the widow which ceased after her death. Thus the statute seeks to make a clear-cut distinction between a widow who has inherited an interest from her husband which is dealt with by s. 172 of the Abolition Act and a widow who has acquired an independent interest in the holding which is covered by s. 172 of the Abolition Act. The High Court appears to have overlooked the fact that merely because Smt. Menda having initially inherited possession or occupation of the holding from her husband acquired other types of interests merely by operation of law, that could not destroy the origin or the source of her title which was inheritance from her husband. Nor can we regard the conferment of the status of a statutory tenant or a hereditary tenant or a bhumidhar under the various laws passed by the U.P. Legislature as amounting to an acquisition u. of a self-acquired interest by the widow. It was, however, argued by Mr. Dikshit that under the Rent Act of 1886 before its amendment by Act 4 of 1921 the estate which was held by Ramadhin was not heritable at all and, therefore, Smt. Menda could not have inherited any interest in the tenancy on her husband's death. In this connection the learned counsel sought to draw a distinction between the provisions of the Agra Tenancy Act which had made the tenancies heritable and the provisions of the Oudh lenience Act which did not make the tenancies heritable. Although the argument appears to be extremely attractive, on closer scrutiny it is not tenable. The words used in s. 172 of the Abolition Act are "inherited an interest". The statute has not defined the word "interest" and therefore it must be deemed to be of the widest possible amplitude. It will include not only an absolute interest but also a limited interest, a precarious interest and an inchoate interest or the like. Section 48 of the Rent Act of 1886 before its amendment by Act 4 of 1921 stood as follows: