KANDIMALLA SUBBAYYA Vs. KANDIMALLA RAMAKOTESWARA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a defendant's appeal, arising out of a suit brought by the respondent, Ramakoteswara Rao, for partition and recovery of possession of Ramayya alias Sriramulu was the appellant's undivided brother and died issueless about 20 years prior to the suit, leaving him surviving his widow Seshamma. The plaintiff was the only son of Sriramulu's paternal uncle's son, Ramaswami who had married Seshamma's sister Subbamma. About four years prior to the suit, Seshamma took the plaintiff to her house and began to bring him up.

(2.) KANDIMALLA Ramaswami had only one son. Sending out such a son from Ramaswami's family and Seshamma's taking such a boy in adoption are opposed to Hindu Sastras. While so, it is Subbayya's opinion that the adoption which is intended to be made by Seshamma is not proper. He does not consent to this adoption Ramaswami's wife is Seshamma's younger sister. She intends to do this with the object of passing property somehow to her younger sister's son.

(3.) THE learned Counsel for the appellant questions the correctness of the lower Court's view that his refusal to give his assent to the adoption was improper. He does not dispute the position that if his refusal was improper, the widow was entitled to go outside the undivided family and seek the assent of divided or remoter sapindas to justify the adoption. This aspect of the matter was elaborately considered by a Division Bench of the Madras High Court in the case of Sundara Rama Rao v. Satyanarayana Murthi,, ILR (1950) Mad 461 : ( : AIR 1950 Mad 74) (B).