Post-annulment liability for record-of-rights costs cannot be shifted to a later purchaser absent express statutory authority.

A purchaser of an entire permanently settled estate who annuls under-tenures under Section 37 of Act 11 of 1859 does not remain liable for the unpaid balance of apportioned Record of Rights preparation costs. Rule 414 of the Bengal Survey and Settlement Manual was confined to death, transfer or abandonment and did not extend to annulment of under-tenures. Even if the liability operated as a charge on the patni estate, the charge could not survive once the under-tenure was validly annulled. Section 114 of the Bengal Tenancy Act, 1885, read with the certificate procedure under Section 8 of the Bengal Public Demands Recovery Act, 1913, created liability only against the specific certificate-debtor and did not authorise shifting liability to a later purchaser absent express statutory language.

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Issues: Whether, after the purchaser of an entire permanently settled estate annulled the under-tenures under Section 37 of Act 11 of 1859, he remained liable for the unpaid balance of apportioned costs of preparing the Record of Rights.

Analysis: Rule 414 of the Bengal Survey and Settlement Manual did not apply to annulment of under-tenures, as it was confined to death, transfer or abandonment. Assuming that the apportioned liability operated as a charge on the patni estate, the charge could not survive once the under-tenure itself was avoided and annulled under Section 37. Section 114 of the Bengal Tenancy Act, 1885, when read with the certificate procedure under Section 8 of the Bengal Public Demands Recovery Act, 1913, created a liability against the specific certificate-debtor and provided machinery for recovery from that person and devolution on death, but not a shifting liability against a subsequent purchaser after annulment. No statutory language justified reading into the provision words such as "from time to time".

Conclusion: The appellant was not liable for the unpaid balance after annulment of the under-tenures, and the amounts recovered from him were not recoverable.

Ratio Decidendi: A charge or statutory liability attached to an under-tenure or certificate-debtor cannot be enforced after the under-tenure is validly annulled, unless the governing statute expressly provides for such post-annulment recovery.

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