KOCHUKESAVAN Vs. RAMAN PADMANABHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) DEFENDANTS Nos. 21 and 66 in a suit for partition are the appellants. The subject -matter of the suit is 40 cents of land which admittedly belong to an Ez'hava tarwad, which consisted of four branches. The plaintiffs and defendants 1 to 174 are the members of this tarwad. The plaintiffs claiming 222/332 shares as belonging to their branch sought partition of the property by metes and bounds, ignoring Exs. P -l and P -2 which are two partition deeds. Defendants 1, 21 and 66 executed a partition deed, the copy of which is Ex. P -l, on 5th May, 1965 dividing the suit property into four equal shares. On the basis of this partition deed, on May 14, 1965 defendants 21 to 57 executed another partition deed Ex. P -2. Plaintiffs contended that they are not parties to these partition deeds and that these documents are invalid and not binding on them, the properties and the other members of the tarwad which remained undivided.

(2.) THE suit was contested by defendants 1, 21 and 66, who filed a joint written statement contending that thetarwad had already attained a status of division, years ago, that in pursuance of this division each branch was enjoying properties allotted to them separately and therefore the plaintiffs were not entitled to institute the suit as framed. They also maintained that Ex. P -l is a valid partition deed.

(3.) IN the appeal preferred by the plaintiffs against this decree and judgment, the learned Subordinate Judge on a consideration of the entire evidence repelled the contentions of the contesting defendants and found that they have miserably failed to show that, by a course of conduct, the four branches of the tarwad attained a status of division. The decree and judgment of the trial Court were modified to that extent.