KRISHNA KUMAR OJHA Vs. JITENDRA CHAUDHARY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave Granted.

(2.) This appeal has been filed by the Appellants (the legal heirs of the original plaintiffs and other co-sharers) who are aggrieved by the dismissal of civil revision no.103 of 2024 by learned single judge of the High Court of Judicature at Patna which was in turn directed against order dtd. 7/2/2024 passed by Sub-Judge-01(East) Muzaffarpur in Miscellaneous Case No.07 of 2022, whereby petition for setting aside decree dtd. 22/2/1994 in Suit 128 of 1989 [Partition suit], on the basis of a compromise entered by Sub-Judge-01, Muzaffarpur [Civil Court], was allowed.

(3.) The plaintiff, Dinbandhu Ojha, filed a partition suit, including, against the predecessors of the present respondent, seeking 1/4th share in the total property of common ancestor by the name of Thakur Ojha. Chaturbhuj Chaudhary (Defendant No. 5), the abovesaid predecessor of the respondents appeared through counsel on summons in the suit. During the pendency thereof, a compromise petition was filed by the plaintiffs and defendants 'jointly' which was accepted by Sub-Judge-01 Muzaffarpur vide order dtd. 22/2/1994. Pursuant thereto, a final decree was prepared on 27/5/1997 in terms of the above said compromise petition. All appeared fine for approximately a quarter of a century thereafter, but it was not so. The defendant no.5 represented through LRs - the respondents herein filed a Miscellaneous Case No.07 of 2022 before the concerned Court on 7/4/2022, seeking setting aside of the aforesaid compromise decree on the ground that the same had been obtained by fraud and without the signatures of defendant no.5. The same was allowed by the Trial Court, on 7/2/2024. Appeal thereagainst has been dismissed by the High Court. Hence, the case is before us.