RAJA BRAJA SUNDAR DEB vs MONI BEHARA AND OTHERS

The Supreme Court held that the right to fish exercised by the inhabitants of certain villages is not a right attached to any estate nor capable of being granted, as there are no ascertainable grantees. The doctrine of lost grant cannot apply to a collective of fishermen as they do not constitute a corporate body. The Court affirmed that the fishermen, having been found in possession of the disputed fishery under Section 145 of the Criminal Procedure Code, were entitled to remain in possession as the Magistrate's order had become final due to the zemindars' failure to challenge it within the limitation period set by Article 47 of the Limitation Act.