RAJ NARAIN PANDEY & ORS. vs SANT PRASAD TEWARI & ORS.

The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's interpretation of the U.P. Tenancy Act, 1939, specifically sections 33, 44, 45, 82, and 180, affirming that a usufructuary mortgage of an occupancy holding by a tenant is void and not voidable. The Court established that a mortgagor cannot recover possession without repaying the mortgage money, and that the mortgagee's possession does not extinguish the mortgagor's right to redeem. The Court held that the occupancy tenants, now declared Bhumidars, had the right to sue for possession after depositing the mortgage amount, thus dismissing the appeal.