The 1st defendant in O.S. No. 208 of 1970 on the file of the Munsiff of Manjeri is the appellant in the second appeal. The suit was one for partition and separate possession of plaintiff's 2/9 share in the plaint schedule property by declaring that the plaint schedule property belonged to the plaintiff and defendants jointly and that the alleged gift deed in favour of the 1st defendant and sale deed in favour of defendants 4 and 5 were invalid in law. The trial Court has passed a preliminary decree for partition as prayed for with respect to items 1 to 9 in the plaint schedule. Though the 1st defendant carried the matter in appeal, by the judgment in A.S. No. 39 of 1974 the Subordinate Judge of Manjeri has confirmed the preliminary decree passed by the trial Court; hence this second appeal.

2. It is not in dispute that plaint schedule Items 1 to 9 belonged to Mammad, the father of the plaintiff and defendants 1 and 2. Item 10 also admittedly belonged to the said Mammad, and the challenge in the suit was that the alienation in favour of the defendants 4 and 5 ought to be set aside and that item also should be made available for partition. The trial Court has upheld the val