Coffee garden lease not an agricultural lease; destruction of plants meant Section 117 did not apply.

A lease of a coffee garden was treated as creating the relationship of lessor and lessee, and the amount claimed was characterised as rent. On the facts, the lease was regarded as relating to the coffee plants rather than to land alone, and the whole of the plants in the demised portion had been destroyed before the lessee abandoned the garden. In that setting, the lease was held not to be an agricultural lease within Section 117 of the Transfer of Property Act, and the objection based on Section 108 did not assist the appellant. The appeal therefore failed and the decree was affirmed.

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Issues: Whether a lease of a coffee garden is an agricultural lease within the meaning of Section 117 of the Transfer of Property Act, and whether Section 108 of the Transfer of Property Act was inapplicable on the facts.

Analysis: The demise was found to have created the relationship of lessor and lessee, and the amount claimed was held to be rent. On the facts, the lease was treated as relating to the coffee plants, not merely to land, and the whole of the plants in the demised part had been destroyed, after which the lessee abandoned the garden. In that setting, the Court held that the lease of a coffee garden could not be treated as an agricultural lease within Section 117, and the objection based on Section 108 did not avail the appellant.

Conclusion: The appeal failed, and the decree of the Subordinate Judge was affirmed.

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