MARY Vs. LEELAMMA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Total deprivation, through a partition deed and a release deed, of the property of a deaf and dumb sister forced her to approach the Court to restore her rights in her property and claim partition. Suit having been decreed, the eldest sister the beneficiary under the two documents, has come up in appeal.

(2.) Mary, Leelamma and Aani are sisters. Mary is the eldest and Aani, the youngest. Admittedly, Leelamma, the second amongst the sisters, is a deaf and dumb person. She is also illiterate. Mary claims to have brought up Leelamma under her care and custody, conducted her marriage and that of her daughter too. Leelamma's conjugal life with her husband did not last long as she came back along with her daughter to Mary's care, on account of difference of opinion with her husband. Even after the death of their mother, Leelamma continued to live with Mary.

(3.) On 9-3-2011, Leelamma through her daughter Manju, as next friend, filed a suit as an indigent person before the Munsiff Court, Muvattupuzha, which was later transferred and re-numbered as O.S. No.17 of 2015 on the files of the Subordinate Judge, Muvattupuzha. Alleging that the partition deed (Ext.A1) and the release deed (Ext.A2) executed on 5-1-2011 and 10-1-2011 respectively, were on account of fraud and undue influence exerted over the plaintiff, she sought for setting aside those two documents and for a declaration that the said deeds shall not affect the plaintiff's right over her properties. For easier reference, the parties are referred to in this judgment, as they were arrayed in the trial court.