This regular first appeal is filed by defendants 1 to 3, challenging the Judgment and Decree passed by the trial Court decreeing the suit of the plaintiffs for partition and separate possession of their shares in the suit schedule properties.

2. For the sake of convenience, the parties are referred to as they are referred in the original suit.

3. Suit is in respect of four landed properties and one house property, described in the schedule to the plaint as item Nos.1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively.

4. The case of the plaintiffs is that they and late Mahadevappa, the husband of first defendant and father of defendant Nos.2 to 4 are the children of one Sannamadaiah. They along with defendants 1 to 4 constitute undivided Hindu Joint Family owning ancestral agricultural lands and house property at item Nos.1 to 5 of the suit schedule. The katha of these properties was recorded in the name of their brother Mahadevappa and he used to share the agricultural yield from the said properties, during his lifetime with them. After the demise of Mahadevappa, defendants 1 to 4 failed to share the crops and refused to accede to their lawful demand for share in the schedule properties. Furt