Benami ownership and merger covenants cannot convert State property into private property without clear proof.

Property claimed as belonging to a former ruling family was examined under the principle that benami ownership must be proved by cogent evidence, while documentary records and consistent official treatment carried greater weight than unsupported oral claims. The disputed properties, Sterling Castle and House No. 34, Alipur Road, were treated on the evidence as Nabha State property, not the personal property of Ripudaman Singh. The earlier Allahabad High Court ruling was found inapplicable because the facts and legal setting were different. The merger covenant preserved only property already established as private, and did not convert State property into private property.

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Issues: (i) Whether the property known as Sterling Castle was purchased benami for the Nabha State or was the personal property of Ripudaman Singh and his heirs; (ii) whether House No. 34, Alipur Road was the personal property of Ripudaman Singh or State property; (iii) whether the earlier Allahabad High Court decision operated as res judicata; and (iv) whether the rule of primogeniture or the merger covenant altered the devolution of the properties.

Issue (i): Whether the property known as Sterling Castle was purchased benami for the Nabha State or was the personal property of Ripudaman Singh and his heirs.

Analysis: The burden lay on the party asserting benami to prove it by cogent evidence. The surrounding documents, treatment of the property by the State authorities, the municipal records, the release deed, and the conduct of the parties showed that Sterling Castle had been dealt with as Nabha State property. The oral evidence relied upon to prove personal funds was insufficient to displace the documentary record. The covenant inventory did not override the prior character of the property as State property.

Conclusion: Sterling Castle was held to be State property and not the personal property of Ripudaman Singh. The appeal seeking partition and mesne profits failed.

Issue (ii): Whether House No. 34, Alipur Road was the personal property of Ripudaman Singh or State property.

Analysis: The purchase, release deed, municipal entries, budget documents, correspondence, and consistent official treatment established that the property was acquired and retained as Nabha State property. The claim that it was bought from personal funds was not satisfactorily proved. The covenant only recognized private property already belonging to the Ruler in his individual capacity and did not convert State property into personal property merely by inclusion in an inventory.

Conclusion: House No. 34, Alipur Road was held to be State property. The suit for possession was not maintainable on the asserted private title.

Issue (iii): Whether the earlier Allahabad High Court decision operated as res judicata.

Analysis: The earlier decision concerned different facts and a different legal setting, including the position of the former Ruler after deposing and the particular property then in dispute. Since the factual foundation and the applicable legal issues were not identical, the earlier decision could not conclusively bar re-examination of the present disputes.

Conclusion: The earlier Allahabad High Court decision did not operate as res judicata in the present appeals.

Issue (iv): Whether the rule of primogeniture or the merger covenant altered the devolution of the properties.

Analysis: The rule of primogeniture continued to govern the succession to the Gaddi and, in the case of sovereign rule, the incidents of sovereignty were inconsistent with an ordinary coparcenary claim. However, the decisive question remained whether the properties had ever been established as private properties of the Ruler. Article XII of the covenant protected only private properties already belonging to the Ruler as distinct from State properties; Article XIV preserved succession to the Gaddi. On the evidence, the disputed properties were not shown to be private properties in the relevant sense.

Conclusion: The covenant did not convert the disputed State properties into private property, and succession principles did not assist the claims to those properties.

Final Conclusion: The Court upheld the State character of both disputed properties, rejected the plea of res judicata, and maintained the distinct legal treatment of succession to the Gaddi and ownership of State property; one appeal failed while the other succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: A party claiming that property associated with a ruling family was private property must prove it affirmatively, and inclusion in a covenant inventory does not by itself transform State property into private property; the covenant preserves only property already established as privately owned.

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