# [1964] 7 S.C.R. 633

- **Citation:** [1964] 7 S.C.R. 633
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1964
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/1964-7-s-c-r-633-3089
- **Pages:** 6

## Headnote

7 S.C.R.
SUPRElVIE COURT REPORTS
633
BASMATI DEVI
v,
CHAMROO SAO AND ORS.
lK. SUBBA RAO, K. C. DAS GUPTA AND RAGHUBAR DAYAL, JJ J
Mortgage-Execution of mortgage bonds--Liabi!ity to pay
rent to both mortgagor and mortgagees-Mortgaged !ands sold
for default of payment of rent-Purchase by mortgagees-If the
.-right to ·redeem exists-If the principle of s. 90 Trusts Act applies
-Trusts Act, s. 90.
The plaintiff brought a suit for redemption of a large number of usufntctuary mortgages in favour of the defendants. The
·Case of the plaintiff was•that under the terms of the mortgage
bonds the mortgagees were liable to pay rent to the land lord.
The mortgagees, however, defaulted in the payment of rent for
.some years. A suit for arrears of rent was brought by the land
lord and a decree obtained. In execution of the decree the lands
were sold. According to the plaintiff, the purchasers of the
mortgaged lands were only benamidars of defendants 1 and 2
and other mortgagees. The plaintiff claimed that the right of re-
·demption was not afl'ected by the Court sale because the purchase was for the benefit of the plaintiff. The suit was contested
by defendants 1 and 2 only. Their case was that the right of re-
-demption had been extinguished by the court sale; that the purchasers were not the benamidars of the defendants. The Trial
Court dismissed the suit. On appeal, the Additional District
Judge set aside the judgment of the Trial Court and passed a
preliminary decree for redemption.
Against this decree the two defendants appealed to the High
Court. The appeal was heard by the Division Bench.
Tne High Court held that in the present case s. 90 of the
Trusts Act did not apply because the court sale took place due
to the default oftte mortgagor as well as the mortgagees. In this
view the High Court set aside the decree of the first Appellate
Court and restored the decree of the trial court.
Held: The fact that the mortgagor had made a default, does
not alter the position that the mortgagee had also defaulted in
paying the rent he was liable to pay. By his default he has contributed to the position that a suit had to be brought for arrears
of rent,and ultimately to the position that the property was put
to sale in execution of the decree obtained in the suit. This contribution to the bringing about of the sale was a direct result of
his position as a mortgagee. When therefore he purchased the
property himself at the sale in execution of the rrnt decree he
clearly gained an advantage by availing himself of his position
as a mortgagee. This is the position of law even if the mortgagee's liability was to pay less than the major portion of the
rent of the holdings. In this view s. 90 of the Trusts Act applies
to the facts of this case.

## Text

7 S.C.R.
SUPRElVIE COURT REPORTS
633
BASMATI DEVI
v,
CHAMROO SAO AND ORS.
lK. SUBBA RAO, K. C. DAS GUPTA AND RAGHUBAR DAYAL, JJ J
Mortgage-Execution of mortgage bonds--Liabi!ity to pay
rent to both mortgagor and mortgagees-Mortgaged !ands sold
for default of payment of rent-Purchase by mortgagees-If the
.-right to ·redeem exists-If the principle of s. 90 Trusts Act applies
-Trusts Act, s. 90.
The plaintiff brought a suit for redemption of a large number of usufntctuary mortgages in favour of the defendants. The
·Case of the plaintiff was•that under the terms of the mortgage
bonds the mortgagees were liable to pay rent to the land lord.
The mortgagees, however, defaulted in the payment of rent for
.some years. A suit for arrears of rent was brought by the land
lord and a decree obtained. In execution of the decree the lands
were sold. According to the plaintiff, the purchasers of the
mortgaged lands were only benamidars of defendants 1 and 2
and other mortgagees. The plaintiff claimed that the right of re-
·demption was not afl'ected by the Court sale because the purchase was for the benefit of the plaintiff. The suit was contested
by defendants 1 and 2 only. Their case was that the right of re-
-demption had been extinguished by the court sale; that the purchasers were not the benamidars of the defendants. The Trial
Court dismissed the suit. On appeal, the Additional District
Judge set aside the judgment of the Trial Court and passed a
preliminary decree for redemption.
Against this decree the two defendants appealed to the High
Court. The appeal was heard by the Division Bench.
Tne High Court held that in the present case s. 90 of the
Trusts Act did not apply because the court sale took place due
to the default oftte mortgagor as well as the mortgagees. In this
view the High Court set aside the decree of the first Appellate
Court and restored the decree of the trial court.
Held: The fact that the mortgagor had made a default, does
not alter the position that the mortgagee had also defaulted in
paying the rent he was liable to pay. By his default he has contributed to the position that a suit had to be brought for arrears
of rent,and ultimately to the position that the property was put
to sale in execution of the decree obtained in the suit. This contribution to the bringing about of the sale was a direct result of
his position as a mortgagee. When therefore he purchased the
property himself at the sale in execution of the rrnt decree he
clearly gained an advantage by availing himself of his position
as a mortgagee. This is the position of law even if the mortgagee's liability was to pay less than the major portion of the
rent of the holdings. In this view s. 90 of the Trusts Act applies
to the facts of this case.
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 241
of '196L Appeal from the judgment and decree dated March 4,
1958, of the Patna High Court in Appeal from Appellate
Decree No. 1335 of 1952.
1964
April 3
634
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[19641
1964
R.S. Sinha and R.C. Prasad, for the appellants.
Basmati Dn·i
Sarjoo Prasad and B. P. ]ha, for the respondents nos. I.
v.
and 2.
·
Okamroo Bmi a 11d
Others
,April 3. 1964. The judgment of the Court was delivered
Das Uupta, J. by
DAS GUPTA, J.-This appeal arises out of a suit for re·
demption of a large number of
usufructuary mortgages in.
favour of the defendants. The plaintitf who owned 1.67 acres.
of lands which were recorded in Khata 56 and J0.56 acres in
Khata 57 in village Sarifabad gave 1.27 acres out of Khata 56
and 8.24 acres out of Khata 57 lands in mortgage to the several
defendants by separate mortgage bonds. Part of the remaining land was sold by him and the rest settled by him with the
first defendant on Batai terms.
The plaintiff's case is that under the terms of the mortgage
bonds the mortgagees were liable to pay rent to the landlord.
The mortgagees however defaulted in the payment of rent for
some years. A suit for the arrears of rent was brought by the
landlord and a decree obtained. In execution of the decree the
lands were sold. The purchasers were one Besolal and Mst.
Kirti Kuer, who according to the plaintiff. were only benami-
<-
dars of defendants I and 2 and other mortg:igees: It is his case
that this purchase enured for the benefit of the mortgagor. that
is. the plaintiff. and so the right of redemption of the mortga·
gees has not been affected. The prayers were for a declaration
that the purchase was for the benefit of the plaintiff and for
redemption of the mortgagees.
The suit was contested by defendants 1 and 2 only. O!
these defendants, Chamroo Sao is the purchaser, and Besolal,
defendant 2 is t.he son of the other purchaser Mst. Kirti Kuer.
They denied the allegation that Besolal and Mst. Kirti Kuer
were their benamidars and contended that the right of
redemption has been extinguished by the court sale.
The Trial Court held that the plaintiff had failed to show
that the auction purchasers were benamidars of the mortga·
gees and in that view dismissed the suit.
On appeal, the Additional District Judge, Patna. came to
a contrary conclusion. He held that the purchase. though in
the name of Besolal and Mst. Kirti Kuer was really by the
first and the second defendants. He also accepted the plaintiff's case that under the terms of the mortgage bonds the mort··
gagees were liable to pay the rent and the rent sale having
been brought about due to the default of the mortgagor and
the mortgagee they could not be allowed to take advantage
of the sale. So, according to the learned Judge, the equity of
7 S.C.R.
\ /
SUPRK\IE COURT REPOHTS
635
redemption in favour of the plaintiff still subsisted and that he
was entitled to redeem the mortgaged property, Accordingly,
he set aside the judgment of the Trial Court and passed a
_preliminary decree for redemption.
Against this decree the two defendants appealed to the
High Court of Patna. The appeal came up for hearing in the
first instance before a Single Judge (Mr. Justice Sahai). On a
consideration of the evidence, he was of opinion that the liabi1ity of rent of 2.67 acres was upon defendant I and that payment of rent of .87 acres which was purchased and 1.76 acres
which was taken in ijra, the total being 2.43 acres, was upon
defendant 2, that for payment of rent of 3.83 acres was upon
the other defendants, and the plaintiff was liable to pay the
rent of only about 3.39 acres out of the entire area of 1.67
acres of Khata no. 56 and 10.65 acres of Khata no. 57. The
,question which therefore arose was whether s. 90 of the Trusts
Act would operate to keep the equity of redemption alive in
cases where the sale took place due to the default of the mortgagor as well as the mortgagees, the default on the part of the
mortgagees, who purchased the properties at the sale being
also substantial, The learned Judge referred this point for decision to a Division Bench.
The Division Bencl:i of the High Court held that s. 90 of
the Trusts Act did not apply to these circumstances, In this
view the High Court allowed the appeal, set aside the decree
of the first appellate court and restored the decree of the Trial
Court.
The present appeal by Mst. Basmati Devi, who is the
legal representative of the original plaintiff who was substitut-
-ed in his place, is against !he High Court's decision dismissing
the suit.
In coming to a conclusion that s, 90 of the Trusts Act did
not apply to cases where the sale took place due to the default
of the mortgagor as well as the mortgagee, the High Court appears to have followed a number of previous decisions of the
same High Court.
In support of the appeal it is urged that the view taken by
the High Court in the present case as well as the previous decisions of the Patna High Court is incorrect and defeats the very
object of s, 90 of the Indian Trusts Act. Section 90 of the Indian Trusts Act is in these words:-
"'Where a tenant for life, co-owner, mortgagee or other
qualified owner of any property, by availing himself of his position as such, gains an advantage in
1964
Basrnati Devi
'"
Chaniroo Sao and
Others
Das Gupta, J.
636
1964
Basmati Dem
v.
SUPREl\IE COURT REFORTS
[19641.
derogation of the rights of the other persons interest-·
ed in the property, or where any such owner, as reGhamroo Sao and
her
presenting all persons interested in such property,.
gaips any advantage, he must hold, for the benefit
of alt persons so interested, the advantage so gained
Das Gupta, J.
but subject to repayment by such persons of their
due share of the expenses properly incurred, and to
an indemnity by the same persons against liabilities
properly contracted, in gaining such. advantage."
The question for consideration is whether in circumstances like the present where the decree and the sale in execution
of it are brought about by the default of both the mortgagor
and the mortgagee, the mortgagee can be said to have taken
advantage of his positjon by purchasing the property at the
sale. The High Court appears to think that unless the sale was
brought about by the default of the mortgagee alone the mortgagee cannot be said to have taken advantage of his pgsition
in making the purchases. What seems to have weighed with
the learned Judges is that even if the mortgagee had done his
duty by paying the rent he was liable to pay, the sale would
stilt have taken place as the mortgagor did not pay that portion of the rent which he was liable to pay. So, they thought
that the mortgagees, though they took advantage of the fact
that the property had been brought to sale, could not be said
to have taken advantage of their position as mortgagees.
With this view we are unable to agree. Jn our opinion,
the fact that the mortgagor had made a default, does not alter
the position that the mortgagee had also defaulted in paying
the rent he was liable to pay. By his default he has contributed
to the position that a suit had to be brought for arrears of rent
and ultimately to the position that the property was put to
sale in execution of the decree obtained in the suit. This contribution to the bringing about of the sale was a, direct result of
his position as a mortgagee. When therefore he purchased
the property himself at the sale in execution of the· rent decree
he clearly gained an advantage by availing himself of his position as a mortgagee.
·
This, in our opinion, is the position in law even if the mortgagee's liability was to pay less than the major portion of the
rent of the holdings. Whether this would be true even where
the portion which the mortgagee is liable to pay is so very small
that the property is not ordinarily likely to be brought to sale
for that amount, it is unnecessary for us to decide in the present case.
Tn the present case, the finding is that the liability of the
defendants I and 2 was to pay a substantial portion of the
rent. To say in such circumstances that they did not take
7 S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT HF.PORTS
637
advantage of their position as mortgagees is entirely unrealistic
Such a construction would put a premium on dishonesty on
the part of mortgagees whenever the entire burden of payment of rent was not left .squarely on the mortgagee as under
the provision of s. 76 of the Transfer of Property Act.
Mr. Sarjoo Prasad, who appeared before us on behalf of
the respondents, tried to persuade us that in any case the plaintiff's suit should fail as regards the lands recorded in Khata
No. 57. As, according to him, these mortgagees were not at
all liable to pay any portion of the rent of this holding. He
drew our attention in this connection to Ex. 2, the mortgage
bond executed in favour of Chamroo Sao, and to the statement made therein: "Annual rent payable to the zamindar
is the concern of me, the executant". This argument proceeds
on the basis that the holding recorded in Khata No. 57 continued to. be separate and distinct from the Khata No. 56. It
is thus in direct conflict with the plea of these very defendants
in their written statement that the two holdings had been consoiidated into one holding with one rental. As the oral and
documentary evidence on the Paper Book prepared in the
appeal did not clearly show whether or not these two holdin~s had become one, we called for one of the documents,
E~. B which seemed likely to throw some light on the
matter. The document has now been received. It is the copy
of a judgment of a suit bet\veen these parties in which this very
question, viz., whether the two holdings had been consolidated
into one or not, was raised. It was decided that such consolidation had taken place. It is clear that it was after such consolidation that the second rent suit was brought in respect of that consolidated holding and it was that consolidated holding which
was sold in execution of the decree. It is clear therefore that the
mortgage bond Ex.2 in which the mortgagor accepted liability
to pay rent to the zamindar in respect of the mortgaged land in
Kha ta No. 57 does not affect the correctness of the High Court's
finding that the liability to pay rent of the holding that was sold
was partly of the mortgagor and partly of the mortgagees ar.d
that it was the. default of both the mortgagor and the mortgagees that brought about the sale.
Accordingly, we allow the appeal, set aside the judgment
and decree of the High Court and restore the decree made by
the Additional District Judge, Patna. A Pleader Commissioner
shall be appointed by the trial court on a deposit of Rs. 50 /-
as his fees by the present appellant within two months from this
date for taking accounts as to the amount due to the defendants on the date of th_e decree. A preliminary decree for redemption shall be passed in the usual terms.
As the suit as also the appeal before the District Judge had
been brought in forma pauperis the High Court made an order
1[H]4
v,
Cltamnm ~'i'ao ancf
Vthfrs
na~ Gn11to, J.
638
SUPREl\IE COURT REPORTS
[1964]
1904
directing the plaintiff to pay the court-fee on the plaint as well
Ba"""'' Devi ·as on the memorandum of appeal. That order is set aside. In-
~ · v.
stead, we order the first and the second defendants in the suit
~hamroo Sao awl
h
f
bl
h
1 ·
1
h
Other•
to pay t e court- ee pa ya eon t e p amt as a so on t e memorandum of appeal. The present appeal to this Court has also
Da• Gup'a, J.
been brought by the appellant as a pauper. As she has succeeded in the appeal, we ortler the contesting respondents, i.e., the
first and the second defendants, to pay the court fee payable on
the memorandum of appeal to this court. The appellant will
get her costs from the first and the second defendants throughout.
Appeal allowed_