SHEKHAR SHANKAR JOSHI Vs. ANITA ARUN BHAVE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this Second Appeal, the Appellant-Defendant has challenged judgment and decree dtd. 29/4/2023 passed by the District Judge-3, Raigad-Alibag in Civil Appeal No.11 of 2020 thereby partly setting aside the decree of the Trial Court dtd. 9/1/2020 in Special Civil Suit No.131 of 2015. The Trial Court had partly decreed the Suit declaring that the Plaintiff and the Defendant have one-half share in the suit property and had made a preliminary decree for effecting partition of the suit property.

(2.) The Appellate Court has redetermined the shares of the Plaintiff and the Defendant by partly allowing the Appeal and has held that the Plaintiff has one-third share and Defendant has two-third share in the suit property by accepting validity of Relinquishment Deed dtd. 25/3/2013 executed by mother-Shakuntala in favour of the Defendant. Despite partly succeeding in the Appeal, the Defendant has filed the present Second Appeal challenging grant of one-third share in the suit property to the Plaintiff.

(3.) The Plaintiff and the Defendant are siblings. Land bearing Gat No.27 admeasuring 21.5 R and House No.201 located in Gat No.27 are the 'suit properties'. The two suit properties alongwith land bearing Gat No.28 were ancestral properties of late Narayan Vinayak Joshi. Narayan Joshi had two sons-Shankar and Waman. Shankar passed away on 27/1/1991 leaving behind him, his wife-Shakuntala, son-Shekhar (Defendant) and daughter-Anita (Plaintiff). Waman has a son-Suhas. After death of Narayan Joshi and Shankar Joshi, names of Shakuntala, Shekhar and Anita alone were mutated in respect of the two suit properties and property at Gat No.28 vide mutation entry No.306 dtd. 30/3/1991. Based on affidavit submitted by the Plaintiff-Anita, her name was removed from revenue records in respect of the suit properties as well as Gat No.28. Thereafter a partition was effected vide registered Deed of Partition dtd. 25/6/1993 between Shakuntala and Shekhar on one side and Suhas Waman Joshi on the other. Under the Partition Deed, Shakuntala and Shekhar agreed for granting land bearing Gat No.28 admeasuring 28.3 R in favour of Shekhar while retaining land at Survey No.27 and house located thereon with themselves. The partition recorded Plaintiff-Anita relinquishing her rights in respect of both the properties bearing Gat Nos.27 and 28. This is how the land bearing Gat No.28 went to the share of cousin-Suhas Waman Joshi, whereas Defendant and his mother-Shakuntala started claiming right in respect of Gat No.27 as well as house constructed thereon. On 25/3/2013, mother-Shakuntala executed Relinquishment Deed in favour of Defendant-Shekhar. This is how the Defendant started claiming exclusive right in respect of Gat No.27 and the house constructed thereon.