Tenant's estoppel under the Evidence Act barred denial of landlord's title where no effective eviction or attornment was proved.

A tenant cannot deny the landlord's title under Section 116 of the Evidence Act unless a recognised exception is proved, such as termination of the landlord's title, eviction by a paramount title-holder, or attornment to that title-holder under threat of eviction. Here, the notice under Section 7 of the Madras Land Encroachment Act did not result in effective eviction. The landlord's title was asserted before the revenue authority and accepted, while the tenant failed to prove eviction by the Government or attornment through payment of cist or acceptance of patta. The tenant's objections on court-fee and refusal of additional evidence did not displace estoppel, and the landlord's title remained unimpeached.

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Issues: Whether the defendant, as tenant, was estopped from denying the plaintiff's title under Section 116 of the Evidence Act on the basis of a claimed eviction or threatened eviction by a paramount title-holder.

Analysis: The rule of tenant's estoppel admits an exception where the tenant shows that the landlord's title has since come to an end, or that the tenant was evicted by a paramount title-holder, or that under threat of eviction the tenant attorned to such title-holder. In the present case, the notice issued under Section 7 of the Madras Land Encroachment Act did not culminate in an effective eviction. The plaintiff asserted title before the revenue authority, her claim was accepted, and the defendant neither proved eviction by the Government nor attornment to it by payment of cist or acceptance of patta. The defendant's further contention based on court-fee and the refusal to admit additional evidence did not alter the position that the landlord's title had been affirmed and the defendant had failed to establish any exception to estoppel.

Conclusion: The defendant was not entitled to deny the plaintiff's title, and the plea of estoppel against the plaintiff succeeded.

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