PRABHAKAR BHASKAR PARULEKAR Vs. KRISHNARAO MOROBA RAUT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an appeal by some of the defendants in a suit brought by respondent No.1 for possession of certain immoveable properties.

(2.) THE properties consisted of a house site survey No.126B and a bungalow built thereon at Vijayadurg and a number of fields in the villages of Vijaya-durg and Giraye in the Devgad taluka of the Ratnagiri district. THE basis of the respondent-plaintiff's claim is that the properties belonged to Vishnu defendant No.1 who sold them to Himatlal Manji & Co., a firm of Marwaris doing business in Bombay, on July 29, 1926. THE plaintiff purchased from the Marwaris on January 19, 1937. THE defendants, except Nos. 13 to 19 who are tenants, are all relations of defendant No.1. Defendant No.3 is his brother and the others are the sons of his two other brothers Bhaskar and Vithal. THEy all claim to have become owners by adverse possession. Defendant No.6 who is the principal defendant claims to be the owner of survey No.126B and the bungalow under the circumstances shortly to be explained. He also contends that one of the properties, viz. a godown attached to the bungalow, has not been sold to Himatlal Manji & Co. nor to the plaintiff. THE trial Court decreed the suit in respect of all the properties and reliefs claimed.

(3.) EXHIBIT 242, which is undated but appears to be of the year 1922, is a declaration by the purchaser Jaokar that he had purchased on behalf of Vishnu defendant No.1. He mentioned that Vishnu had built a bungalow on the land. The Revenue Authorities accepted the position that defendant No.1 was the real owner and on January 6, 1923, defendant No.1's name was entered in the revenue records in place of Jaokar. Prior to this on October 18, 1922, defendant No.1 had obtained a formal conveyance from Jaokar.