Construction of Chaukidari Chakaran grant confirmed a separate transferable Patni with a valid power of sale for default.

Construction of a grant concerning Chaukidari Chakaran lands turned on the document itself, and the point could be considered in appeal because no objection had been taken below. Reading Exhibit B as a whole, the Court treated the clauses for sale on default, transfer and succession, and extinction of the minor grant on sale of the original Patni as showing an intention to create a separate and transferable Patni. Inconsistent later language could not defeat the earlier operative sale covenant where the provisions could not be reconciled. The grant was therefore construed as creating an independent tenure with a valid power of sale.

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Issues: (i) Whether the respondents were entitled to raise, for the first time in appeal, the contention that the grant under Exhibit B treated the Chaukidari Chakaran lands as part of the original Patni and therefore made their sale illegal as a sale of part of a tenure; (ii) Whether Exhibit B created a distinct Patni in respect of the Chaukidari Chakaran lands, so that the sale held for arrears of rent was valid.

Issue (i): Whether the respondents were entitled to raise, for the first time in appeal, the contention that the grant under Exhibit B treated the Chaukidari Chakaran lands as part of the original Patni and therefore made their sale illegal as a sale of part of a tenure.

Analysis: The true character of the grant was a question of law turning on construction of the document itself. No extrinsic evidence was admissible for that purpose, and the point was open on the terms of Exhibit B. Since no objection had been taken when the contention was raised in the appellate court below, there was no bar to its consideration.

Conclusion: The contention was rightly allowed to be raised in appeal.

Issue (ii): Whether Exhibit B created a distinct Patni in respect of the Chaukidari Chakaran lands, so that the sale held for arrears of rent was valid.

Analysis: Under the Village Chaukidari Act, 1870, Chaukidari Chakaran lands resumed and transferred to the zamindar remained subject to prior contractual rights, but the parties could agree to constitute such lands into a separate and independent Patni. Reading Exhibit B as a whole, the clauses providing for sale of the lands on default, transfer and succession in respect of the lands, and extinction of the minor grant upon sale of the original Patni showed that the parties intended a separate tenure. The clauses relied on by the respondents were not inconsistent with that construction. A construction giving effect to the operative sale clause was preferred, and a repugnant later clause could not defeat the earlier effective covenant.

Conclusion: Exhibit B created a distinct Patni, and the sale held on 15 May 1937 was valid.

Final Conclusion: The appellant obtained a good title under the later grant, and the decree of the appellate court below was restored.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a grant relating to Chaukidari Chakaran lands, read as a whole, shows an intention to create a separate and transferable Patni with an express power of sale for default, the grant must be construed as creating an independent tenure, and a later inconsistent clause will not defeat the earlier operative covenant if the two cannot be reconciled.

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