CHANDRABHAGABAI Vs. RAMAKRISHNA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this Appeal by way of special leave, the heirs of original No. 1 and the remaining Plaintiff Nos. 2 to 8, have brought in challenge the judgment and order rendered by the High Court of Bombay dismissing their Second Appeal and confirming the decree of dismissal of their suit by the Trial court and as confirmed by the First Appellate Court. In order to highlight the grievances of the appellants in the present proceedings, it will be necessary to note a few relevant introductory facts.

(2.) We shall refer to the appellants as Plaintiffs and the respondents as Defendants for the sake of convenience in the later part of this judgment. The Plaintiffs filed a Regular Civil Suit No. 246 of 1970 in the Court of the 4th Joint Civil Judge, Junior Division, Nagpur for possession of the suit property, which, according to them, consisted of three rooms in their house situated at Circle No. 13/19, Tandapeth in Nagpur city. Their case was that four brothers along with Ramkrishna, s/o. Suryabhan and one Shankar, s/o. Soma mortgaged the house including the suit three rooms with one Maroti Laxman and Narayan Vithobaji, who formed a joint Hindu family along with other members.

(3.) In the second set of proceedings, though initially the Trial Court decreed the suit, in Civil Appeal 162 of 1967, the suit was dismissed on the ground that there was no relationship of landlord and tenant between Narayan and Suryabhan. The said appellate decision was rendered by the 4th Extra Assistant Judge on 16th August, 1969. Thereafter, the plaintiffs have filed the Suit No. 246 of 1970 from which the present proceedings arise on the strength of title for possession, accepting the finding of the Appellate Court rendered in Civil Appeal No. 162 of 1967 on 16th August, 1969, as aforesaid. This suit of 1970 can be treated as third set of proceedings.