( 1 ) THE appellants were the plaintiffs and respondents were defendants in O. S. No. 176/1999 on the file of the Civil Judge (Sr. Division), Gadag. For convenience we will refer to the parties by their ranks in the suit or by their names.

( 2 ) VIRUPAXGOUDA and Veerangouda (Defendants 1 and 2 in this suit) are brothers and are the sons of late Basangouda Patil and his wife Basavva. Plaintiffs- 1 to 4 are the children, and plaintiff No. 5 is the wife of Virupaxgouda, the first defendant. The third and fourth defendants are respectively the son and wife of Veerangouda, the second defendant.

( 3 ) BASANGOUDA, filed a suit against his two sons (Virupaxgouda and Veerangouda) and his wife (Basavva) in O. S. No. 60/1994 on the file of the Civil Judge (Sr. Division) Gadag for partition and separate possession of his one-fourth share in the joint family properties. He alleged that there was no partition till then. During the pendency of the suit, Basangouda died. Basangouda s second son Veerangouda and Basangouda s widow - Basavva (defendants 2 and 3 in that suit) were transposed as plaintiffs 1a and 1b, and virupaxgouda continued as the sole defendant. Subsequently, basavva