IMPORTANT POINTS
(1) Under Madras School of Hindu Law, every female who succeeded as a heir whether to a male or a female, took a limited estate in property inherited by her.
(2) With running out of period of limitation prescribed under Limitation Act, 1908 (by Articles 140 and 141), very right of alleged Reversioner also came to an end.

JUDGMENT :

K.M. JOSEPH, J.

1. This appeal filed by special leave is directed against the judgment dated 28.11.2005 passed by the High Court of Karnataka in Regular Second Appeal Nos. 870/1996 and 871/1996. The High Court, by its impugned judgment, dismissed the appeals and affirmed the judgment of the First Appellate Court which had reversed the decree passed by the Trial Court. The Trial Court decreed the suits [O.S. No. 68/1985 and 21/1986 (O.S. No. 393/75)] filed by the appellants.

2. The case of the appellants is as follows:-

One Ramanna was the owner of the properties which are scheduled to the plaint. He passed away in 1907. He was married to Jankamma (first wife) who predeceased him. The second wife Seethamma passed away in the year 1938. Through his first wife (Jankamma), he had a daughter named Venkamma. Venkamma passed away in 1910. Venkamma, in turn, had a daughter named Jankamma. The appellants before us claimed right to the properties by virtue of sale deeds executed by Jankamma in the year 1955.

After the sale executed by Jankamma, the father of the first plaintiff and the second plaintiff claimed that they were in possession of the suit properties. The respondents filed the suits (bearing O.S. Nos. 211 and 213 of 1955) for declaration of their title and injunction. The said suit was decreed by the Trial Court. The High Court in second appeal set aside the decree of the lower court and confirmed the sale of Jankamma in favour of the first plaintiff s father and the second plaintiff and held that title to the properties could not be decided. It is their case that since Venkamma survived Ramanna, Jankamma became a full owner of the properties and through her under the sale deed, the plaintiffs claimed absolute ownership, and sued for declaration of title, recovery of possession and mesne profits.

3. The respondents, on the other hand, denied the allegations that Ramanna had a daughter by name Venkamma and Venkamma had a daughter by name Jankamma. The ownership by Jankamma was denied. Seethamma had sold the properties to her brother - Srinivasa Rao.

It is the further case of the respondents (defendants) that they purchased property from Srinivasa Rao under registered sale deed dated 13.09.1954 and they are in possession since then. They also claimed adverse possession. They have been found to be in possession right upto the High Court in the earlier proceedings.

4. The Trial Court decreed the suit and found inter alia that Venkamma was the daughter of Ramanna and Venkamma had two daughters by name Patamma and Jankamma. Patamma died and Jankamma alone survived. The Trial Court further proceeded to enquire whether Jankamma had-acquired any right in the properties of her grandfather which was alienated to the plaintiffs. The Court referred to the following findings of the High Court in the earlier litigation commenced by the respondents:

"17. Now, whether Seethamma independently got any right to acquire the suit property from her husband is a matter to be looked into.

Further, this aspect has also been considered by the Hon'ble High Court in S.A. No. 801/60 at page-16. It is observed in the said judgment:-

"Now it should be point out that although there is no dispute that Ramanna left behind him his wife Seethamma, who died in the year 1938, there was a serious controversy in this litigation in regard to the question whether Ramanna had a daughter Jankamma. A question which was even more serious than that was whether Venkamma was alive when Ramanna died in the year 1907 or there about. This question assumes great importance in the context of the finding recorded by the courts below, that Seethamma under the provisions of Mysore Hindu Law Women's Right to property Act became an absolute owner of the properties of her husband. It is clear from Sec. 10(2) (g) of the Act that she could become absolute owner of these properties, o