Hindu law does not permit a husband to gift ancestral immovable property to his wife, and such a gift is not valid.

Judgment

WANCHOO, J. : This is an appeal on a certificate granted by the Madras High Court and arises in the following circumstances. One Rangaswami Chettiar was a man of considerable property and used to live in Poolathur village. He first married one Bappini and had a son by her. But both the sons and Bappini died. He therefore married Ammathayee who was defendant No 2 in the suit and is appellant No. l before us. He had a son and two daughters by her. But unfortunately all the three children died. Thereafter Rangaswami Chettiar married Lakshmiammal in 1943. She was 1 he first defendant in the suit. It appears that no child was born to Lakshmiammal for about three years and therefore Rangaswami Chettiar married a fourth time. His fourth wife was the sister of his second wife named Supputhayee. In February 1949 Lakshmiammal gave birth to a son. There is dispute as to the question whether Lakshmiammal had left her husband about 1945 or so because of frequent quarrels between the two. Anyhow the fourth wife had also no children. In June 1953 Rangaswami Chettiar fell ill. He was first treated as an in-patient in Batlagundu hospital and later admitted as all in-patient. On June 16, 1933 he executed a registered deed of gift in favour of his second wife Ammathayee of certain immovable joint family property. Lakshmiammal when she came to know of this gift published a notice in a newspaper accusing the second and fourth wife of trying to deprive her and her minor son of their due share in the joint family property by having the gift deed executed and claimed that the gift deed was not valid. On September 4, 1953 Rangaswami Chettiar sent a notice in reply to the notice published by Lakshmiammal In that notice Rangaswami Chettiar accused Lakshmiammal of having left him a year and a half after the marriage after quarrelling with him. He also accused her of living a life of promiscuity thereafter. Finally he said in the notice that the son born to Lakshmiammal in February 1949 was not his son. Lakshmiammal gave reply to this notice of Rangaswami Chettiar on September 15, 1953, in which she maintained that the child was Rangaswami Chettiar s. She also claimed that Rangaswami Chettiar s mind had been poisoned against her by his two other wives. She denied that she had any connection with any other man besides Rangaswami Chettiar. In December 1953 Rangaswami Chettiar died.

2. The present suit was filed a year later on January 3 1955 on behalf of the minor son. He claimed half share in the joint family properties left by Rangaswami Chettiar. To this suit the three widows who between them have half share were defendants Nos. 1, 2 and 3. Three other defendants were made parties to the suit to whom we shall refer later as they are not concerned with the main controversy between the plaintiff and the two step-mothers (i. e. second and third defendants).

3. The main defence of the two stepmothers who are now appellants before us, was that the plaintiff though born to Lakshimmal shmiammal was not the son of Rangaswami Chettiar and was therefore not entitled to any share in his properties. Further Ammathayee pleaded that the gift deed in her favour was valid and that even if the plaintiff was the son of Rangaswami Chettiar he would be entitled to half share of the properties other than those gifted to her by Rangaswami Chettiar before his death. There were other issues in the suit, but we are not concerned with them in the present appeal.

4. On the main question, namely, whether the plaintiff was the son of Rangaswami Chettiar, the trial court found in his favour. Further on the question whether the gift deed in favour of Ammathayee was valid, the trial court was of opinion that it was not competent for Rangaswami Chettiar to make a gift of immovable joint family property to his wife. The trial court therefore held the gift to be invalid and gave the plaintiff a decree for his half share in the property left by Rangaswami Chettiar, including the prope