Judgement

Consolidated Appeals (No. 27 of 1924) from two decrees (March 2, 1922) of the Court of the Judicial Commissioner of Oudh, varying a decree (January 31, 1920) of the Subordinate Judge of Lucknow.

The suit giving rise to the present consolidated appeals was instituted in the Court of the Subordinate Judge of Hardoi by the first appellant, Mata Prasad (hereinafter referred to as "the appellant"), the principal defendant being the present first respondent (hereinafter referred to as "the respondent").

The appellant by his plaint claimed possession of two Oudh estates, named the Wali estate and the Baragaon estate. The former had been placed in list 5 made under s. 8 of the Oudh Estates Act, 1869, and the latter in list 2.

The facts of the case, including a pedigree of the family, appear from the judgment of the Judicial Committee.

The appellant by his plaint denied the genuineness of the will dated October 21, 1904, of Narindra Bahadur, who died on June 18, 1905, and denied the validity of the adoption of the respondent made under that will; he, therefore, claimed the Wali estate as next heir to Narindra Bahadur. The will of Narindra Bahadur had been declared to be genuine in