JUDGMENT :

C.M. POONACHA, J.

The present first appeal is filed by defendants No.1 and 2 under Section 96 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, [Hereinafter referred to as ‘ the CPC’], calling in question the judgment and decree dated 04.11.2019 passed in O.S. No.63/2015 by the Court of Principal Senior Civil Judge, Chikkodi[Hereinafter referred to as ‘the Trial Court’, for short], whereunder the suit for the partition filed by respondents No.1 to 5/plaintiffs has been decreed by the Trial Court.

2. The parties will be referred to as per their rank before the Trial Court, for the sake of convenience.

3. It is the case of the plaintiffs that one Girimalla Ningappa Solabannavar, [Hereinafter referred to as ‘the Propositus’,] died leaving behind his two sons namely Basappa and Balappa who succeeded to the properties of the Propositus equally. It is the further case of the plaintiffs that Basappa died leaving behind a son namely Dundappa and three daughters namely Gangawwa, Akkawwa and Rupawwa, whereas Balappa died leaving behind his sons Chandrappa (plaintiff No.1), Shankar (plaintiff No.2), Mallappa (plaintiff No.3), Appasab (plaintiff No.4) and Maruti, as also the daughters namely Dund