( 1 ) THIS appeal by the first defendant in O. S. No. 457 of 1983 (Old O. S. No. 923 of 1980) is against the judgment in the said suit whereunder the Court of Additional Chief Judge, City Civil Court, Secunderabad decreed the suit of the plaintiff/first respondent herein and passed a preliminary decree directing the plaint schedule properties to be divided into three equal shares and further directing the plaintiff/first respondent to be put in one such share. For the sake of convenience, the parties herein are referred to as they are arrayed in O. S. No. 457 of 1983.

( 2 ) THE plaintiff initially filed O. S. No. 923 of 1980 on the file of the II Additional Judge, City Civil Court, Hyderabad (later transferred to the Court of Additional Chief Judge and renumbered as O. S. No. 457 of 1983) for partition of the joint family property left behind by his father, one Mandala Papaiah. The case of the plaintiff is as follows:mandala Papaiah and his four brothers constituted a Hindu joint family. They separated and divided their property. Thereafter, Mandala Papaiah was on his own (sic) and died on 1-11-1952 leaving behind his son Pentalah by his first wife and the three son