RISALI Vs. BALAK RAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal arises out of a suit in which the plaintiffs sought a declaration that a will said to have been executed by one Ramji Lal shortly before his death was not a genuine document, but was a false and fraudulent will. The plaintiffs in the suit were Musammat Shibbo, the widow of Ramji Lal, and Musammats Baldai and Risali, minors, under the guardianship of their mother. The defendants were fifteen persons who would take the property under the will of Ramji Lal, if genuine. It is admitted that possession is still with the widow, Musammat Shibbo. The defendants pleaded that the will was genuine and also that there was a custom prevailing amongst Jats, to which class Ramji Lal belonged, which prevented the daughters inheriting any right in their father s property. They also pleaded, as to Musammat Shibbo, that she had no interest in the suit because her rights as widow were not interfered with by the alleged will.

(2.) The learned Subordinate Judge dismissed the suit. As against the widow he dismissed it on the ground that she was entitled to the property under the will, and therefore she had no cause of action. He further decided that the will was a forgery, but that the daughters had no right to maintain the suit, because he found that a custom prevailed amongst the community which prevented daughters inheriting.

(3.) Musammat Shibbo has not appealed, but the daughters have appealed, and it is contended on their behalf that the learned Subordinate Judge ought not to have gone into the question of the existence or non-existence of the alleged custom. All that they asked in their plaint was to have the question of the validity of the will decided, and that if that question was decided in their favour, the court ought to have made a decree in the terms of the prayer in the plaint.