ALLURI VENKATAPATHI RAJU Vs. DANTULURI VENKATANARSIMHA RAJU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE are two consolidated appeals from a decree of the High Court of Judicature at Madras, by which that Court set aside a decree of the Subordinate Judge of Masulipatam dismissing the plaintiffs' suit, and granted a declaration that the plaintiffs would be entitled to succeed, on the death of their mother, to a portion of the estate claimed by them. The principal question, on which elaborate arguments have been advanced by the learned counsel for the parties, is whether the plaintiffs' maternal grandfather was, or was not, joint in estate with the ancestors of the contesting defendants.

(2.) THE relationship of the persons concerned is indicated in the following pedigree : Alluri Venkataraju | | | ||Pattabhiramaraju Krishnamaraju AkkirajuRamaraju | Buchi = Venkataraghavaraju = Venkata Venkayya Narasaya | Chandrayya | --------------------- | |Venkata SatyanarayanarajuNarasimharaju (Plaintiff No. 2)(Plaintiff No. 1)

(3.) AFTER the death of Krishnamaraju and his son, Akkiraju and Ramaraju continued to carry on the business, and while they did not recognise the right of Venkataraghavaraju's widow to inherit her husband's share in the estate belonging to the family, they provided ample maintenance, not only for her and her step-daughter Chandrayya, but also for the widow and daughters of Krishnamaraju.