S. SANTHANA LAKSHMI Vs. D. RAJAMMAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave granted.

(2.) The present appeal arises from a suit filed by Rajammal against Munuswamy, her brother, for injunction simpliciter, one, to restrain alienation or encumbrance of the suit property and the other to restrain interference with the peaceful possession & enjoyment of the plaint schedule property. The plaintiff claimed absolute right over the property being half share of 1.74 1/2 acres coming to 0.87 1/4 acres of dry landed property with all appurtenances attached thereto. The claim was made specifically on the ground that by a Will dtd. 30/9/1985, Rangaswamy Naidu, their father had bequeathed the said property equally in favour of the plaintiff and another brother, Govindarajan. The plaintiff's contention itself was that the defendant was continuing in the property as a tenant while the defendant claimed that he came into possession as a co-owner and later there was an arrangement, by which in the lifetime of his father, the property was equally divided between the brothers i.e. the defendant and Govindarajan.

(3.) The trial court found the Will to have been proved and decreed the suit injuncting the defendant from alienating the property and from interfering with the plaintiff's peaceful possession. On appeal, the appellate court found that the bequest was made of an ancestral land, on which the testator had no right to execute the Will. The trial court judgment was upset and the suit was dismissed. In the second appeal, the High Court formulated two questions of law as to whether the appellate court was correct in finding the suit property to be a joint family property and whether Ex.B5 document produced by the defendant was properly construed.