Judgment

HEGDE, J.:- In this appeal by special leave though number of contentions were taken, we have not thought it necessary to go into all of them as in our judgment High Court s conclusion that Shyam Behari Lal (1st defendant) had been validly adopted by Gopal Das is well founded.

2. The suit from which this appeal arises is for possession of the suit properties on the basis of title. The 1st plaintiff Debi Prasad claims title to the properties as the nearest heir to Gopal Das, his maternal uncle who died in 1934. The 2nd plaintiff is an alienee from the 1st plaintiff.

3. In order to properly understand the controversy in the present case, it is necessary to have before us the family pedigree. The admitted pedigree is as shown below:

4. The common ancestor of the family was Lajja Ram who died in 1874. We are now concerned with the branch of Kedar Nath, the father of Gopal Das who died on February 18, 1934. His widow Bhagwan Dei died on October 19, 1934. The contention of Debi Prasad is that Gopal Das had separated from his family; he died intestate and, therefore, being the nearest heir of Gopal Das, he is entitled to the properties left by Gopal Das. The plaintiff s claim was resi