Judgement

Appeal (No. 62 of 1921) from a judgment and decree of the High Court (March 11, 1919) varying a decree of the Subordinate Judge of Meerut (March 31, 1916).

The suit was brought in 1915 by the respondents to recover possession of certain immovable property. The property in suit had been ancestral property of a Hindu (Mitakshara) joint family, consisting of Amar Singh (till his death in 1909), his two sons (who were made formal defendants), and his grandsons the respondents. In 1904 Amar Singh executed a usufructuary mortgage for ten years over part of the property in favour of the principal defendants to secure an advance of Rs.8000 then made to Amar Singh. In 1907 Amar Singh sold to the mortgagees the equity of redemption for Rs.l3,500, of which Rs.8000 was applied to discharge the mortgage debt, and Rs.5500 was paid to Amar Singh.

The facts more fully appear from the judgment.

The Subordinate Judge found that there was no legal necessity for incurring the mortgage, or for selling the equity. He, however, took the view that under the Mitakshara law the debt was an " antecedent debt " for which Amar Singh was competent to alienate the joint property. As regards the Rs.5500