MAHAPATRA, J.

1. The appellants brought a suit on the 7th of January, 1950, for a declaration that they had perpetual mukarrari interest in the property in suit described in Schedule 1 of the plaint, and that they were entitled to get the property which was in the custody of the Sub-divisional Officer, Barh, after the same was attached under Sec. 146 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The property involved in the suit was 16.35 acres in village Berna Gossain Nath, Pargana Pillich, thana Buktiarpur in the district of Patna.

2. The plaintiffs are the members of a Hindu joint family governed by the Mitakshara School of which the plaintiff No. 1 is the karta. One Baldeogir was impleaded originally as defendant No. 6, but he was expunged by an order of the Court at the instance of the plaintiffs on the 10th of January, 1951; so also another defendant No. 8, Mt. Deolagan Devi, was expunged. No relief was sought particularly against defendant No. 7. We are thus left with defendants 1 to 5 who were parties to a proceeding under S. 145, Criminal Procedure Code, as against the plaintiff. The plaintiffs case was that Baldeogir was the absolute owner of the rent free lands in khata Nos