MANDAVA KOTIAL Vs. MANDAVA SITARAMAYYA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Reddy, C. J.1. This appeal is brought by defendants 1 to 4 against the judgment of the Subordinate Judge of Narsaraopet decreeing substantially O. S. No. 48 of 1.952, Subsequent to the filing of the appeal, defendants 5, 11 and 20, the alienees from the original appellants, got themselves impleaded as respondents.

(2.) . The action giving rise to this appeal was laid in forma pauperis by one Seetharamaiah as the adopted son of Mandava Venkarrayudu, a divided brother of the first defendant and the father o defendants 3 and 4, for possession of items 1 and 3 to 7 of the plaint B schedule, and items 1 to 6 and 8 of the C schedule, for partition of item 7 of the C schedule into two equal shares and for possession of one such share, for partition of the D schedule properties into three equal shares and for possession of one such share and for a permanent injunction restraining defendants 1 to 4 from trespassing on items 2 and 8 of the B schedule properties.As regards items 1 to 5 of the C schedule, an alternative prayer was made that they may be divided into three equal shares and one share allotted to him, if the Court should believe that the sale of these items by his adoptive father was for the benefit of the family constituted by the vendor and the two vendees.

(3.) The facts that are helpful for appreciating the contentions of the respective parties may be briefly narrated. One Mandava Kotaiah had tour sons, Venkaiah, Lingayya, Ramaswami and Lakshmiah. We are here concerned only with the descendants of Ramaswami and Lakshmaiah. Ramaswami had three sons, Seshaiah, Kotaiah (first defendant) and Venkatrayudu, Seshayya being the eldest. After the death of their father, the eldest brother became the manager of the family. Seshaiahs sons are Venkateswarlu and Subbarao, defendants 3 and 4 respectively, while the second defendant is the son of the first defendant. Lakshmaiah had two sons, Kotaiah and Appaiah. They had a maternal uncle by name Amirineni Veerayya of Vinjanampad, who had only daughters but no sons.Under a will executed by him in 1912, this Veerayya made a bequest of a part of his property to Venkatrayudu. There was litigation concerning this property which ultimately ended in a compromise by and under which items 1 to 4 of the C schedule and a share in item 5 were got by Venkatarayudu, who made a sale of these properties in favour of Seshayya, the manager of the joint family under Ex. B-15 in 1917. The three brothers continued to be joint till 1925 when the family was disrupted and the family properties were divided by metes and bounds and the properties in the B schedule were allotted to Venkatarayudu. Venkatarayudu died in the year 1927, leaving behind him his widow, Punnamma alias Rukminiamma, who was 17 years old. Shortly after the death of Venkatarayudu, his widow shifted to the abode of her parents in a neighbouring village.