Holding

The High Court was not justified in reversing the concurrent findings of fact; the lower courts' findings stand.

Summary

The dispute concerned the width of a common road on property jointly purchased by the parties in Nasik. The trial court and the appellate court, after extensive consideration of oral and documentary evidence, found that a 30‑foot wide road existed and enjoined the defendants to remove encroachments. The Bombay High Court, relying on a Commissioner’s report (which had previously been rejected), set aside those concurrent findings and altered the determination of the road’s existence. The Supreme Court held that the High Court was not justified in overturning the lower courts' factual findings merely on the basis of the Commissioner’s report, especially when the report had been rejected. Consequently, the Supreme Court allowed the appeal, set aside the High Court judgment, and confirmed the findings of the trial and appellate courts.

Issues considered

Whether the High Court was justified in reversing concurrent findings of fact recorded by the trial and appellate courts on the basis of a Commissioner’s report.
Whether a Commissioner’s report, after being rejected, can be used to alter factual determinations already settled by lower courts.

Legislation cited

Code of Civil Procedure, 1908s. 101

Subjects

concurrent findings of facthigh court interferencecommissioner reportcivil procedureproperty disputeroad widthinjunctionappellate jurisdiction

Judgment

MOTILAL DAULATRAM BORA AND ORS. A
v.
MURLIDHAR RAMCHANDRA BHUTABE (SINCE DECEASED)
BY HIS LRS. AND ORS.

APRIL 16, 1996
B
[K. RAMASWAMY AND S.P. BHARUCHA, JJ.]

Code of Civil Procedure, 1908:

S.101>-Concwrentfindings of fact recorded by t1ial cowt and appellate C
cowt-lnte1ference by High Cowt-Held, not justifiecf-Reasoning of the High
Cowt that the Cowts below have not considered the documents is clearly
unjustified.

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 858 (N) D
of 1979.

From the Judgment and Order dated 10.4.74 of the Bombay High
Court in A. No. 698 of 1965.

P.H. Parekh and E.R. Kumar for the Appellants.
E
E.C. Agarwala for the Respondents.

The following Order of the Court was delivered :

The only question in this case is: whether the High Court of Bombay
in S.A. No. 698 of 1965 would be justified in its judgment dated April 8/10, F
1974 to interfere with the concurrent findings of fact recorded by the trial
court and the appellate court? The admitted position is that both the
appellants and the respondents purchased from the common owner
property bearing Survey No. 108/1/1, 109/1-A and 109/2-A situated near
'Peth' road in Panchawati Area, Nasik City. The claim of the plaintiffs in G
a suit for injunction to restrain the respondents from use of the road,
practically not in dispute, is that there was a common road in existence.
Whether it extends to .the width of 30 feet is the question. The existence
of the road for use of both the plaintiffs and the defendants as well as
access to the well existing in the property also is not in dispute. The only
area of dispute at the trial was the width of the road. According to the H
393
394 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996] SUPP. 1 S.C.R.

A appellants-plaintiffs the width is 30 feet and according to the respondents-
defcndants the width, after exduding the encroachment, would range
between 10-15 feet at one point and at another 20-22 feel. After elaborate
consideration of the evidence by the trial Court, it came to the conclusion
given at pages 58-59 of the paper book thus :

B 'The suit road mentioned by letters A.B.E.F. in the plan Ext. 42
of the uniform breadth of 30' throughout is hereby declared to be
of the common ownership and user of the plaintiffs and the
defendants. The defendants are hereby perpetually restrained from
obstructing the plaintiffs right and user to the same road in any
way.
c
The defendant No. 1 is hereby enjoined to remove the
encroachment made by him on this road as shown in Ext. 42 in
red colour and to shift his compound backwards so as to leave the
same road of the uniform breadth of 30' on the Southern Side of
D his land. The defendants 2 and 3 are also enjoined to remove the
encroachment made by them on this road as shown in Ext. 42 in
red colour and to shift their compound backwards so as to leave
the same road of the inform breadth of 30' on the Southern Side
of their land. The defendants are directed to do this within fifteen
days from hence. On their failure the plaintiffs are at liberty to get
E the same encroachment removed through court".

The appellate Court also equally extensively considered all the
documentary and oral evidence and reached the conclusion given at pages
79-80 thus:

F "All this oral evidence has been considered carefully by the
Learned Judge of the Lower Court. He has accepted the version
of the plaintiffs are regards the situation of the road and its width
and has disbelieved the version of the defendants that the road
was on the Southern Side and it has been encroached upon by the
plaintiffs. He has, however, accepted the right of the defendants
G to take water from the well situated in the Southern portion. The
conclusion arrived &t by the Learned Judge of the Lower Court is
fully borne out by the documentary and circumstantial evidence to
which I have already made a detailed reference. Considering the
entire evidence on record, it cannot be said that the plaintiffs are
H not entitled to the reliefs of declaration, mandatory injunction and
.. M.D. BORA v. M.R. BHUTABE 395

permanent injunction claimed by them. I hold that they are entitled A
to these reliefs and find accordingly on Point No. 7".

The High Court while opening the case, has found itself holding that
it is difficult situation to identify the land. That difficult question was sought
to be resolved in the second appeal by appreciation of evidence. It sought
to place reliance on an order passed by one of the leaned single Judges at
B
an interlocutory stage for appointment of a Commissioner on April 10,
1974 and the report submitted by the Commissioner in support thereof.
Practically, in the judgment in Second Appeal the report of the Commis-
sioner formed foundation. The question is: whether the High Court was
justified in reversing the concurrent findings of fact based solely on the c
Commissioner's report. When the matter had come up on last occasion for
hearing on December 13, 1995, we directed the Registry to obtain the
original report of the Commission, objections filed by the appellants in the
High Court. Letter has been sent by the Registrar of the Bombay High
Court stating that the same have been destroyed. Consequently, we do not D
have the benefit of findings recorded by the Commissioner as to the
circumstances in which he came to the conclusion with regard to the
existence of the road.

Shri P.H. Parekh, learned counsel appearing for the appellants has
contended that in view of the concurrent findings recorded by the courts E
below and the High Court having noticed that difficult question of fact had
arisen for decision in the case, the High Court would have reversed the
same. The High Court would not have embarked upon re-appreciation of
the evidence to come to its own conclusion. We find force in the conten-
tion. The High Court was not right in stating that the documentary F
evidence was not considered by both the courts and the effect that could
be reached on consideration of the evidence is not a question of law. In
fact, the trial Court and the appellate Court have extensively considered
all the documentary as well as oral evidence on the basis of which they
reached the finding that road did exist, as contended by the learned counsel
for the appellants. So, the High Court's reasoning that the courts below G
did not consider the said documents is clearly unjustified.

The question then is : whether the High Court would be justified in
appointing a Commissioner and reversing the finding of fact on the basis
of the report of the Commissioner? It is admitted position that in the trial H
·~
396 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996] SUPP. 1 S.C.R.

A Court an application had, in fact, come to be made for appointment of
Commissioner. The Commissioner had gone to the property, identified the
location and submitted his report together with the plan. That report came
to be objected by both the parties. Consequently it was rejected. Having
had rejected the report, the High Court was not right in again appointing
a Commissioner to localise the land and then decide as to the existence of
B the road.

Shri E.C. Agrawala, learned counsel appearing for the respondents,
has contended that by virtue of the device adopted by the appointment, the
appellants are seeking to take the property in excess of the land actually
C purchased by them. Consequently, the respondents are being denied of the
extent of the land they had purchased. He contends that the appellants and
the respondents had purchased the property in equal shares from a. com-
mon owner. By virtue of the existence of the road, the appellants stand to
gain much more than they actually purchased. Unfortunately, that was not
the defence taken in the written statement nor adduced any evidence. We
D find that no argument in this behalf was addressed either in the High Court
or in the courts below. Under those circumstances, as parties have gone
on trial regarding the width of the road and the demarcation thereof having
been put in issue, the High Court was not right in disturbing the findings
of facts recorded by the courts below.
E The appeal is accordingly allowed. The judgment and decree of the
High Court is set aside and that of the courts below stand confirmed. No
costs.

G.N. Appeal Allowed.

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