(1.) THIS is an appeal by the defendants against the judgment and final decree passed by the learned Senior Civil Judge, Ajmer, on 24th October, 1960.
(2.) IT involves two ticklish questions of law and in order to appreciate them properly, it seems necessary to narrate the facts which have given rise to them.
(3.) ALL the four appellants are real brothers, being sons of one Mst. Sardha Devi alias Sardhamani who is no longer alive. Between the years 1936 and 1939 their mother obtained loans from one Ramdhan, father of respondents Nos. 1 and 2, and executed four mortgage-deeds on different dates. Ramdhan brought a suit for recovery of the entire mortgage-money secured by all the said documents, against the present appellants on 14th March, 1946 in the Court of Sub-Judge, Ajmer. That suit was at the request of the parties, referred by the Court to the arbitration of two persons, namely, Sri Daya Shankar and Sri Devi Dayal who were respectively counsel for the plaintiff and the defendants in the suit. The arbitrators gave their "award on 21st December, 1949. The operative portion of the award ran as follows:--