SONIA RAMAN SABHARWAL Vs. ASHOK ROCHIRAM ASRANI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a Suit for partition. The Plaintiff is the sister of the 1st Defendant and the 2nd Defendant. Partition is sought Flat No. 74 in Ashoka Apartments, Rungta Lane, 68, Nepean Sea Road, Mumbai 400 006, as also Garage No. 20. The flat, situated in a upmarket residential locality, is about 1,380 square feet.

(2.) The principal dispute relates to the interpretation of two clauses of the Will of one Rochiram P. Asrani, the father of the Plaintiff and Defendants Nos. 1 and 2. Briefly stated, the Plaintiff's case is that the flat in question was given absolutely to the Plaintiff and her two siblings, Defendants Nos. 1 and 2 in distinctly specified proportions: the 1st Defendant was to get a 40% undivided share, right, title and interest in the flat and the Plaintiff and the 2nd Plaintiff were to get a 30% share each. The case of the 1st Defendant is that this is not an absolute bequest and that the two sisters, i.e., the Plaintiff and the 2nd Defendant, obtained only a life interest.

(3.) It would be appropriate to first set out the relevant clauses of the Will, annexed as Exhibit "C" to the plaint. Clause 4 of the Will reads thus: