JUDGMENT :

SANJAY KISHAN KAUL, J.

1. The subject matter of dispute is half of the land measuring 3 Biswas and 11 Bighas out of Khasra No. 1252, Khata No. 318/563 in Dholewal, Ludhiana. The land was purchased by Chaman Lal (late appellant) from one Mansa Ram on 30.7.1949. A gift deed was executed on 10.3.1958 by Chaman Lal in favour of late Smt. Gurdev Kaur, his stepmother. The controversy relates to the fact whether suit was in respect of half portion of the total land or the whole land was gifted to late Smt. Gurdev Kaur.

2. It cannot really be disputed that the possession of the land remained with late Smt. Gurdev Kaur. It appears that no mutation was made till the jamabandi of 1969-70 when the whole land was mutated in the name of Smt. Gurdev Kaur, who soon thereafter, sold the land to Smt. Kamla Wati on 15.3.1971. The consequent mutation was made on 24.10.1972.

4. The dispute arose from the filing of suit for partition by late Sh. Chaman Lal on 22.08.1987. In the suit claim was sought to be laid that what was gifted was only half of the total land. Late Smt. Gurdev Kaur was arrayed as the 1st defendant and Smt. Leelawati as the IInd defendant.

5. Pendente lite the land was re sold by defendant No.2 to defendant Nos. 3 & 4, on 4.1.1995 and 6.1.1995 who were thus impleaded as the defendants. It is these defendants who are respondents 1 & 2 before us and are really contesting parties.

6. The trial court in terms of judgment and decree dated 20.11.1998 decreed the suit directing the partition into half share each. The first appellate court affirmed the decree vide judgment and order dated 28.8.1999. However, the second appellate court being the Punjab and Haryana High Court interfered with these concurrent findings in terms of judgment dated 02.04.2002. Late Chaman Lal preferred a special leave petition against the said order being SLP(C) No. 2713 of 2003. The appeal was allowed on 6.10.2003 on the short ground that the Second Appeal has been decided without framing any substantial question of law as was mandatory requirement under Section 100 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. The matter was thus remitted back to the High Court which has again allowed the appeal in terms of the impugned judgment dated 23.01.2008.

7. We may notice prior to proceeding on merits of the matter that the order of this Court dated 6.10.2003 was predicated on a legal position which stands subsequently clarified by a Constitution Bench judgment of this Court in Pankajakshi (D) through Lrs. & Ors. vs. Chandrika & Ors. (2016 (6) SCC 157) opining that insofar as the Punjab and Haryana High Court is concerned, a different legal position would prevail and a substantial question of law is not to be determined, in view of the State amendments, as a pre-requisite before interfering with the orders of the trial court.

8. Be that as it may, the aforesaid is being referred to, so as to complete the facts as also by reason of the learned counsel for respondent nos. 1 & 2 drawing our attention to certain facts recorded in the earlier Second Appeal order dated 02.04.2002 which may be somewhat germane to the controversy in question. We may notice that crucial development during the pendency of the Second Appeal, prior even to first order, was that a translation was got done from the concerned branch of the High Court of the document in question being the gift deed. A transliteration was also got done of this document. In that context it has been observed in the order dated 02.04.2002 that the concerned learned judge had summoned the person who had translated the document being gift deed (Exh. P1) in the Court and had read the document in open court in the presence of learned counsel for the parties. This was compared with the punjabi version of the document. It was thus opined that the translation effected by the translation branch is absolutely correct, resulting in a finding that late Sh. Chaman Lal did make a gift of the entire land. In the same proceeding it is also