BHARAT SINGH Vs. BHAGIRATHI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal on certificate, is against the judgment and decree of the Punjab High Court reversing the decree of the trial Court and dismissing the suit of the plaintiffs for a declaration that the entry in the name of the defendant in the Jamabandi papers of certain villages was incorrect.

(2.) The plaintiffs, Bharat Singh and Kirpa Ram, are the sons of Ram Narain. They had another brother Maha Chand, whose widow is Bhagiriti, the defendant. The plaintiffs alleged that they and Maha Chand constituted a joint Hindu family, that Maha Chand died as a member of the joint Hindu family and that thereafter Maha Chand's widow lived with the plaintiffs who continued to be the owners and possessors of the property in suit, the widow being entitled to maintenance only. They also alleged that it was by mistake that the defendant's name was mutated in the village records in place of Maha Chand, who died on September 16, 1925. They further alleged that the defendant lost her right to maintenance due to her leading an unchaste life. This contention, however, was not accepted by the Courts below and in no more for consideration. It was on the other allegations that the plaintiffs claimed a declaration that the entry of the defendant's name in the column of ownership in the Jamabandi papers was wrong, that they were the owners and possessors of the property in suit and that the defendant had no right therein. They also claimed a permanent injunction against the defendant restraining her from alienating or leasing any of the properties in favour of any person or causing interference of any in the possession of the plaintiffs.

(3.) The defendant contested the suit alleging that her husband Maha Chand, along with the plaintiffs, did not constitute a joint Hindu family at the time of his death, that he was separate from the plaintiffs and that he was living separate from them, that the property in suit was neither ancestral property nor the property of the joint Hindu family, that the plaintiffs and Maha Chand were owners of agricultural land as co-shares out of which one-third share belonged to Maha Chand and that therefore the entry in her favour in the Jamabandi papers was correct. She also claimed right to Maha Chand's share on the basis of custom. This contention, however, was not accepted by the Courts below and is not now open for consideration. Bhagirti further contended that the suit was not within time as she had become owner and possessor of the land in suit in 1925. The suit was brought in 1951