VEERABASAVARAJU PANTULU Vs. BALASURYA PRASADA RAO PANTULU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS appeal arises out of a suit brought by the plaintiff, Basavaraju, on the 22nd December 1909, in the Court of the District Judge of Ganjam, in the Madras Presidency, for possession of considerable landed property by virtue of his right as the nearest reversioner by adoption to one Viswanadha Rao, the last male owner. And the question for determination by this Board is whether the adoption under which he claims title is valid under the Hindu Law. Viswanadha died in 1880, and since his death the properties were held by his widow, Mahalakshmamma, for a Hindu widow's estate until her decease in 1908, when the defendants, who are admittedly the grandsons of Viswanadha's paternal grand-uncle and who, on failure of the adoption alleged by the plaintiff, would be entitled as the nearest reversioners, took possession of the same, and their possession was confirmed by the revenue authorities, before whom the question now in dispute was first litigated.

(2.) THE plaintiffs' claim is based on the allegation that Basavaraju, the father of Viswanadha, and one Pedda Sanyasiraju were two brothers, and that Pedda predeceased Basavaraju, leaving a widow named Narasayamma, who in 1896 adopted him as a son to her husband. He is, thus, he asserts, nearer in degree as the paternal uncle's son to Viswanadha and has, therefore, a title superior to that of the defendants to the succession to his estate.

(3.) AFTER the institution of the suit, other parties, who had acquired interest in the properties in dispute from the plaintiff or from his guardian, were joined as co-plaintiffs; it is, however, unnecessary to refer to them in this judgment. The following pedigree will explain the exact relationship of the contesting parties: