Judgement

Appeal (No. 27 of 1921) from a judgment and decree of the High Court (January 31, 1917) modifying a decree of the Subordinate Judge of Hazaribagh.

The suit was instituted by the father (since deceased) of the respondent against the appellant, sued as a ward of the Court of Wards, to establish the plaintiffs right of succession to the estate of Raja Saroda Narain, the deceased husband of the appellant.

The property in dispute comprised (1.) the ancestral impartible estate of Serampur, (2.) immovable property acquired by the late raja, and (3.) movable property, including Government promissory notes, acquired by him. It was established in the litigation that the acquired property had been acquired out of the income of the estate.

The deceased raja, who died in 1907 without issue, was the grandson of the eldest son of Dubraj Singh, who had held the estate at one period; the plaintiff was the son of Bharat Singh, a younger son of Dubraj. The parties were Surjabansi Rajputs governed by the Mitakshara law.

The plaintiff claimed as surviving member of a joint Hindu family; alternatively, he alleged a custom excluding widows from succession, and claimed as heir. The defendant-app