JUDGMENT :

1. Present appeal is preferred by the appellants against the judgment and order dated 5.4.2005 passed by the learned 2nd Joint District Judge, Surendranagar, at Dhrangadhra, whereby the Regular Civil Appeal preferred by the appellant of Regular Civil Appeal No.16 of 2004 was dismissed and Regular Civil Appeal preferred by the appellant of Regular Civil Appeal No. 18 of 2004 was allowed and the judgment passed by the learned Civil Judge (S.D.) Dhrangadhara in Regular Civil Suit No.150 of 2002 was confirmed with the modification.

2. Heard learned Counsels appearing for the respective parties. I have perused the judgment and order passed by both the Courts below and also taken into account the material placed on record of the appeal.

3. The First Appellate Court has to apply its mind independently and frame the issues appropriately and independently. The provisions of Order 41 of C.P.C. provides that how the Appellate Court has to deal with the Appeal under Section 96 of the Code and the procedure is to be followed as per Order 41 of C.P.C.

4. In the recent judgment of the Hon’ble Apex Court in case of K. Karuppuraj vs M. Ganesan reported in 2021 (10) SCC 777, the Hon’ble Apex