ATTARBAI Vs. MISHRILALSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS appeal has been filed by the defendant 1 Smt. Attar Bai against whom the plaintiffs claim for declaration that she had no right to get the disputed house sold in execution of her decree for maintenance has been decreed by the lower appellate Court after reversing the judgment of the trial Court.

(2.) BRIEFLY stated, the facts are that Smt. Attar Bai is the widow of one Batan Singh who had two other brothers Nawal Singh and Gangaram. On the death of Ratan singh, Smt. Attarbai instituted Civil Suit No. 53-A of 1955 in the Court of the Civil judge Class I, Khandwa, on 23-10-54, against Nawal Singh and Gangaram who were impleaded in the suit out of which this appeal arises as defendants 2 and 3 claiming arrears of maintenance and future maintenance. She also claimed in the plaint that the amount of maintenance, both of arrears and future, be declared as a charge on the joint family property. With the plaint, she filed Schedule 'b' containing the list of the joint family properties. Item No. 4 in that list is a house which was later on sold by Nawal Singh to the plaintiff Seth Mishrilal Sa for Rs. 1250/- under a registered sale deed, dated 15-12-1956. In Attarbai's suit, there was a compromise between the parties and there was a compromise decree, dated 24-11-1955, in terms of the compromise, passed by the Civil Judge Class IT, to the following effect:

(3.) AS the amount of maintenance which fell due to the appellant was not paid to her by Nawal Singh and Gangaram she took steps to have the house, referred to above, sold in execution of her decree. Seth Mishrilal Sa then instituted Civil Suit no. 12-A of 1960 in the Court of the Civil Judge Class I, Khandwa, claiming thai he was the bona fide purchaser for value of the suit house without any notice of Smt. Attar Bai's charge of maintenance amount on the said house. It was urged that neither the compromise nor the decree or the copies thereof were registered nor had the plaintiff any notice of the litigation between Smt. Attar Bai on the one hand and Nawal Singh and Gangaram on the other. The plaintiff respondent No. 1, therefore, urged that it be declared that the house property purchased by him was not liable to be sold in execution of the decree in Civil Suit No. 53-A of 1955 of the court of the Civil Judge Class II, Khandwa, dated 24-11-1955. It was also prayed that the defendant be permanently restrained from putting to sale the suit property.