MULJI NAROTAM Vs. HIRALAL RAMCHANDRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal by defendants Nos. 1 to 4 against the judgment of the learned Joint First Class Subordinate Judge at Dhulia, finding that the plaintiff as the adopted son of one Ramchandra was entitled inter alia to one half share in the suit lands, and directing a partition on that basis, and other consequential relief.

(2.) To understand the position, one must look at the pedigree given in the learned Judge's judgment, but for the purpose of my judgment, it must be supplemented by inserting the dates of the deaths of certain material persons. It is common ground that with regard to the suit lands, they belonged to one Sambhubhat. His widow was Ratanbai who died in 1859. This property, unlike certain other property, was not joint ancestral property, but passed on Ratanbai's death by way of collateral descent to the descendants of Ambaram the brother of Sambhubhat. It may be taken also as admitted or proved that Ambaram's two sons, namely, Dullabhram and Jaduram, both died in the life-time of Ratanbai, as also did Ambaram himself.

(3.) Then following down the two branches of Dullabbram and Jaduram, we find that Dullabhram had three sons. Narottam, the first son, died in 1878 and he has a son, Mulji, who is defendant No. 1. Vijayshankar, the next son, died in 1895, leaving three ohildren, defendants Nos. 2 to 4. Manishankar, the third son, died in 1902, leaving two sons, Tulashankar who died on December 81, 1918, leaving two daughters defendants Nos. 6 and 7, and Somnath who died in 1918 having by his will purported to leave his share to his sister Bai Dhiraj, defendant No. 5.