MUNUSAMY ACHARI Vs. RAJAMBAL AMMAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ONE Govinda Achari of Veeranandhal village, who was possessed of several items of immovable property in that village, died intestate on 26-10-1927, leaving him surviving his widow Parvathiammal and his only daughter ammakannu Ammal. Parvathiammal died on 2-11-1946. Ammakannu Ammal was married to one Ponnuswami Achari. Ammakannu left her husband's family in the year 1916, and for a number of years thereafter her whereabouts were unknown to the family. In December 1959, the news came that Ammakannu had died on 28-6-1958 in Tirunboodi village. Ammakannu had five children, two sons and three daughters. One son and one daughter died unmarried. One married daughter predeceased her in 1939 leaving four children. This left one daughter and one son, Rajambal and Munuswami Achari, who survived ammakannu.

(2.) THE properties left by Govinda Achari on his death were in the possession and enjoyment of his widow Parvathiammal till her death on 2-11-1946. Thereafter, they were in the possession of Munuswami. On 17-6-1956 the hindu Succession Act, 1956 (Central Act 30 of 1956) came into force. On 27-41970 rajambal filed a suit, O. S. 418 of 1970 for partition and separate possession of her share in the properties left by Govinda Achari, impleading therein five defendants, who were, her brother Munuswami and the four children left by their deceased sister Chinnammal. Rajambal's claim in that suit was for a one-third share in the estate left by Govinda Achari which, according to her, comprised ten items of immoveable property. According to Rajambal in her partition of that estate her brother Munuswami Achari also would be entitled to one-third share and the remaining one-third share should go to the children of their deceased sister.

(3.) MUNUSWAMI resisted his sister's suit on various grounds. He contended that of the ten items of immoveable properties in which she had claimed a one-third share, one item, set out as No. 7 in the plaint schedule, did not form part of the estate of Govinda Achari but had been purchased by his father Ponnuswami achari. As for the rest of the items of suit property which, he admitted to belong to Govinda Achari's estate, his case was that he was the only heir of govinda Achari and, as such, he was entitled to these properties as well, to the entire exclusion of the other children of Ammakannu. He denied that his mother ammakannu died on 28-6-1958. He denied that she survived Parvathiammal. He, accordingly claimed that on the death of Parvathiammal on 2-11-1946, he succeeded to the properties as the one and only reversioner of Govinda Achari. In any case, right from the death of Parvathiammal, he had been in exclusive possession of the entire estate. He stated that neither Rajambal nor any of the children of his other sister, the deceased Chinnammal, were in possession of the property. In any case, to their full knowledge he had been in adverse possession of the property for more than the statutory period and hence their rights, even if any, had become barred by adverse possession.