1. Chellamma, the 1st plaintiff was married to Devarajan the 1st defendant. To them were born a son and two daughters. The relationship between the parties got strained. According to the 1st plaintiff, she attempted to dissuade her husband from undesirable activities. Her attempts, however, had only negative results. She was manhandled and was taken to her parents' house along with the children. She then instituted proceedings under S.125 of the Criminal Procedure Code, M.C. No. 118 of 1978 before the First Class Magistrate's Court, Punalur. The 1st defendant owned 63 cents of land having a rubber plantation. He acted quickly to sell it to the 2nd defendant under Ext. BI sale deed dated 30-11-1978. The Magistrate Court allowed maintenance to the plaintiffs aggregating to Rs. 165/-per month. When information was received by the 1st plaintiff on 30-1-1980 about the execution of Ext. BI, the present suit was filed for a decree granting them maintenance charged on the plaint schedule property.

2. The 1st defendant remained ex parte. The 2nd defendant, the transferee under Ext. BI, claimed that he was a bona fide purchaser who did not have any notice of the order of maintenan