Judgement

Appeal (No. 59 of 1940) from a decree of the High Court (December 16, 1937) varying a decree of the Subordinate Judge of Dharwar (November 22, 1933).

The following facts are taken from the judgment of the Judicial Committee The appellant, Anant, brought the suit out of which this appeal arose in 1932 to recover certain watan properties from the respondent, Shankar. to whom possession had been given in 1928 by order of a Revenue Court. The properties in suit were the patilki right and the patilki watan lands of the village of Alnavar in the district of Dharwar, in the Province of Bombay. Those properties were governed by the Bombay Hereditary Office Act (Bom. Act III. of 1874) as amended by Bom. Act V. of 1886, which imposed on them a special rule of succession whereby every female, other than the widow of the last male owner, was postponed to every male member of the watan family qualified to inherit. No other feature special to watan property was relied on or discussed in the courts in India or mentioned in the printed cases lodged by the parties on this appeal; and their Lordships were not called- upon to consider whether on other grounds the law applicable to watandars