1979 (9) TMI 208

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....which is in dispute, is shown by letters As, Be, Sa, Da in the plaint map. To the further north of the said land was a house of the defendants which was lying in a dilapidated condition and thereafter was the house of one Bam Chandra. The dispute related to the open piece of land which both the parties claimed as appurtenant to their houses. 2. Nobody had appeared on behalf of the respondents in this case. 3. I have heard the learned counsel for the appellant and have also gone through the judgment of the courts below. The learned counsel for the appellant has assailed the decision of the lower appellate court on two grounds. Firstly, that the Court has mis-read material evidence on the record and has, therefore, returned a wrong finding ....

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.... in the statements of P. Ws. which would justify rejection of their testimony. He has further submitted that the lower appellate court was perhaps influenced by the fact that the disputed land was situated across a lane and as such cannot in any case be said to be appurtenant to the house of the plaintiff and it was in this light that the entire evidence has been weighed by that court. I find some force in this submission. 7. On the second point the submission of the learned counsel was that if any land to be appurtenant to any property it is not necessary that it should be adjacent to or adjoining the parent property and even if there was a lane in between yet the land in dispute would be appurtenant to the house of the plaintiff if it wa....

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....a facie, I do not see why a tenant should not use the land opposite to his house but on the other side of a public way for the purpose of tethering his cattle and why such land should not be regarded as appurtenant to his house. In the absence of any authority to the contrary, I think it may be held that the land is appurtenant in the present case." 8. The above case fully supports case of the appellant and nothing to the contrary has been shown to me. Literally the word "appurtenant" means "pertaining to" or "belonging to". The word does not, however, mean adjacent to and from this if could be easily inferred that proximity of the appurtenant land is not essential. What is essential is the concept of bel....