PROTAP CHANDRA DEO Vs. JAGADISH CHANDRA DEO

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The subject-matter of the present appeal is a family estate known as the Dhalbhum Raj, situate in the districts of Singhbum and Midnapur, in the province of Bengal.

(2.) The family is a joint and undivided one, governed by the Mitakshara school of Hindu law. The estate is ancestral, and succession to it is governed by a family custom according to the rule of lineal primogeniture. The Raj is impartible. The last holder of the estate prior to the present dispute was Raja Satrughna, who, in 1887, succeeded to it on the death of Raja Ram Chandra III.

(3.) On May 11, 1905, Raja Satrughna made a will, whereby he appointed the respondent executor, and bequeathed the estate to him and declared him to be the next Raja. Probate of the will has been duly granted to the respondent. It is admitted that, if the will had not been made or is inoperative, the appellant, according to the rule of lineal primogeniture, is the next heir, and as such is entitled to succeed to the estate.