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The facts of the case are set forth with utmost particularity in the judgment of the High Court. It will, therefore, not be inconvenient to deal with them as briefly as possible. The history of the Garwhaghat Math is as follows: In 1925, Swami Sarupanand Paramhans, disciple of Swami Advaitanand, a Hindu ascetic belonging to the 'Sant Mat' sect, came from the North-Western Provinces, and took his abode at Garwaghat, Mouza Ramna Malhija, in the vicinity of Varanasi City. He was a religious preceptor of great learning and from his hermitage preached the tenets and precepts of the 'Sant Mat' and soon had a large following. He was treated with great veneration and some of his devotees by a registered gift deed dated March 18, 1935 endowed the land and building, which he named as 'Bangla Kuti'. Subsequently the said Bangla Kuti and other lands and buildings appurtenant and adjacent thereto came to be known as the Garwaghat Math of which Swami Sarupanand was initially the mahant. He paid a visit to village Khuruhja for a couple of days and Baikunth Singh, father of defendant No. 5, Sri Krishna Singh, the appellant, was greatly influenced by his preachings and left for Varanasi for good. In due course, Baikunth Singh was initiated as chela by Swami Sarupanand who named him as Atmavivekanand. Swami Atmavivekanand Paramhans was the chief disciple of Swami Sarupanand and was given full rights of initiation and Bhesh by his Guru. Swami Sarupanand took his samadhi at Meerut in 1936 and after his death, according to his wishes, his Bhesh and Sampradya gave Swami Atmavivekanand Chadar Mahanti of Garwaghat Math and made him the mahant. Swami Atmavivekanand also had a large following and his 'Sant Mat' fraternity which comprised of thousands of Grihastha and Virakta disciples made large offerings and gifted extensive properties to him as their religious or spiritual leader.

In 1937, Swami Atmavivekanand initiated the plaintiff Mathura Ahir as his chela and named him as Harsewanand according to the custom and usage of the 'Sant Mat' sect. During his lifetime, he purchased the two properties viz., house No. C-27/33, situate in Mohalla Jagatganj and house No. C-4/83, situate in Mohalla Sarai Gobardhan in the city of Varanasi by registered sale deeds dated December 3, and December 22, 1942 from out of the income of the math i.e., the offerings (Bhent) made by the devotees and formed the properties of the math. Swami Atmavivekanand died at Varanasi on August, 23, 1949. A Bhandara was held on October 3, 1949 and according to the wishes of Swami Atmavivekanand, the mahantas and sanyasis of the Bhesh and Sampardaya gave the Chadar Mahanti to the plaintiff and installed him as the mahant of the math in place of Swami Atmavivekanand on October 4, 1949 in accordance with the custom and usage of the Sampradaya. The mahants and sanyasis of the 'Sant Mat' Bhesh who had assembled for the Bhandara also executed a document to that effect acknowledging him to be the mahant. The plaintiff having been installed as the mahant, the entire property of the Garwaghat Math along with the two houses in the city of Varanasi, devolved upon him as successor to Swami Atmavivekanand.

On August 21, 1951 the plaintiff-respondent No. 1, Harsewanand, brought the suit, out of which this appeal arises, in the court of the City Munsif, Varanasi for ejectment of respondents Nos. 2 to 5 from house No. C-27/33, situate in Mohalla Jagatganj, Varanasi. It was pleaded that respondent No. 2, Avadesh Narain, defendant No. 1, had taken the house on rent from Swami Atmavivekanand, the late mahant. It was alleged that he had unlawfully sub-let the premises to the respondents Nos. 3 to 5, who were defendants Nos. 2 to 4. The suit was contested by these respondents who denied the tenancy and inter alia pleaded that they were in occupation of the house as chelas of Swami Atmavivekanand in their own right by virtue of the licence granted to them by him. They denied the plaintiff's title as well as right to sue alleging that he was neither a chela of Swami Atmavivekanand nor his successor. It was also alleged that the house in suit was the personal property of Swami Atmavivekanand and, therefore, on his death his natural son and disciple, Sri Krishna Singh, the appellant became the owner thereof. The suit which was originally framed by the plaintiff-respondent No. 1, Harsewanand, as a suit between a landlord and tenant had, therefore, to be converted into a suit for possession based on title by impleading the appellant, Sri Krishna Singh as defendant No.

All this is borne out by the testimony of plaintiff's witnesses. The institution was really built up by Swami Atmavivekanand, who was held in great veneration by the followers of the sect. He preached the tenets of 'Sant Mat' and had a large following. His 'Sant Mat' fraternity comprised of thousands of Grihastha and Virakta disciples who made large offerings. All the witnesses speak of such offerings in cash or kind or in the shape of immovable property which were endowed to the math. There are a number of documents showing the endowment by the disciples of their properties to the math, wherein they have described themselves as 'disciples of Swami Atmavivekanand' and he is described therein as 'Mahant of the Garwaghat Math'. Even Avadesh Narain, a Judicial Magistrate, D.W. 1, who practised as a lawyer at Varanasi before he was appointed as a Judicial Officer, admits that Swami Atmavivekanand had a large number of disciples in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and that the property of 'Bangla Kuti' might be worth lakhs of rupees. The two houses at Varanasi, including the suit house, were purchased by Swami Atmavivekanand from out of the offerings (Bhent) made by his disciples. We have, therefore, no hesitation in upholding the finding of the High Court as regards the existence of a math at Garwaghat and the suit property being the math property.