Lord Maugham:-

This is an appeal from a decree dated 29th February 1932, of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, affirming with the exception of certain costs of defendant 2, who is not a party to this appeal, the decree dated 23rd October 1929, of the Court of the First Class Subordinate Judge of Ratnagiri. The suit in which the said decrees were passed was brought by the respondent, Sitabai, against the appellant, Hari Sadashiv Khare (defendant 1), for partition of immoveable properties consisting of agricultural land and two houses of which the plaintiff and defendant 1 were in joint possession and for separate possession of her (plaintiff's) own share therein. Both Courts in India have given judgment in favour of Sitabai, who however has since died. The parties are Hindus of the Brahmin caste subject to the Mitakshara law as interpreted in Bombay. One Sadashivrao Khare, a retired Subordinate Judge, died on 4th May 1915, leaving him surviving his widow Yamunabai and the respondent (Sitabai) the widow of his only son Ramchandra who had predeceased him. Sadashivrao left a will dated 2nd February 1914 and a codicil thereto dated 5th January 1915. The testator by his will after stating that all his properties were acquired by himself proceeded to devise his entire immoveable property consisting of two houses and certain agricultural lands to the two widows in equal shares. He gave the bulk of his moveables, consisting of promissory notes, debts due to him and gold and silver ornaments, to his own widow (Yamunabai) but gave a part thereof of the value of Rs. 14,200 in addition to a large proportion of gold and silver ornaments to his son's widow (Sitabai). In the codicil the testator stated that the promissory notes of the amounts mentioned in his will to be given to the widows had already been transferred to them respectively. He also stated that the ornaments bequeathed to them were in fact ornaments which belonged to them as their stridhan.

On 6th April 1916, the testator's widow Yamunabai, obtained probate of both the testamentary documents. The two widows lived together in the dwelling-house left to them jointly on very amicable terms until the death of the elder widow on 9th July 1927. On 13th June 1916, Yamunabai adopted or purported to adopt the appellant as the son of her late husband. The appellant was a son of Yamunabai's sister and was at the time a married man of 30 years of age and a practising pleader. The appellant's name in his natural family was Maheshwar Dhondo Sathe and on adoption he was re-named Hari Sadashiv Khare though he continued to use the name of Maheshwar. Three documents were executed on the date abovementioned. The first was a deed of adoption executed by Yamunabai in favour of the appellant. It was afterwords registered. The second was a document executed by the appellant in favour of the adoptive mother to the effect that by his adoption he did not get any right to the moveable and immoveable property given to her as stridhan under the will of her late husband "excepting to the estate that you may of your own accord give me out of the same". The third document was executed by the adoptive mother. It is called "vyawasthapatra" which is a will. By it Yamunabai devised the whole of the immoveable property which she had got under her husband's will to the appellant and bequeathed to him a large portion of the moveable property.

On 20th July 1916, the younger widow, Sitabai, executed a deed of sale in favour of the elder widow Yumunabai in respect of the immoveable property which she had received under the will of her father-in-law for the consideration, as stated, of Rs. 2,000. It seems to be agreed that the sale deed was executed for a specific purpose though there is no agreement as to the nature of the purpose. In spite of this document, both widows remained in joint possession and enjoyment of the immoveable property which they had respectively received under the will of Sadashivrao. The parties