SUMANGALA T PAI Vs. S SUNDARESA PAI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Plaintiff in a suit for partition is the appellant herein.

(2.) First defendant is the husband, plaintiff and fifth defendant are the daughters and defendants 2 to 4 are the sons of Indira Bai who died on 13-11-1981. First defendant died when the suit was pending in the trial court. Plaintiff filed the suit for partition of the movable and immovable properties belonging to Indira Bai and separation of her 1/ 6th share therein on the ground that Indira Bai died intestate. The suit was resisted by registered notice Ext. A demanding share. In the reply notice defendants set up a contention that Indira Bai had executed Ext. B1 unregistered will dated 26-8-1981. According to the plaint, will is not true and genuine and had been forged and fabricated with the sole object of defeating the claims of the plaintiff. After the death of the first defendant plaint was amended to state that plaintiff is entitled to fractional share in the share of the first defendant. Defendants 1 and 5 filed joint written statement. Defendants 2 to 4 also filed joint written statement. All the defendants set up Ext. B1 Will in answer to the plaintiffs claim. The trial court upheld Ext. B1 Will and dismissed the suit but without costs.

(3.) Schedule A to the plaint describes five items of immovable properties, belonging to Indira Bai. Item (1) is 46 cents of land situated in Ernakulam village which must obviously be a very valuable piece of land. Item (2) is a plot of land measuring 20 cents containing two houses and situated in Ernakulam village, which also is a valuable piece of land. Item (3) is 6 cents of land in Cheranelloor, a few kilometres away from Ernakulam. Items (4) and (5) are two plots of dry land measuring 1.95 acres and 3 acres respectively situated in Puthencruz panchayat, not far away from Ernakulam. Schedule B to the plaint gives a list of movables allegedly belonging to Indira Bai whose total value is given as Rs. 6, 66,925/-. According to written statements, item (3) of plaint B schedule is imaginery and the correct value of other items is only Rs. 2,30,000/-.