Venkataramana Rao, J.

1. The question raised in this civil revision petition is whether it is open to a party who has been impleaded as the legal representative of the deceased mortgagor defendant to resist the passing of a final decree on the ground that the mortgaged property being an Acharyapurusha service inam is inalienable and the sale of such property would be illegal on grounds of public policy. The lower Court took the view that it can and raised an issue for determination as to whether the property mortgaged is Acharyapurusha service inam and adjourned the matter for the taking of necessary evidence. Mr. Sampath Aiyangar for the mortgagee petitioner contends that the lower Court had no jurisdiction to go into the said question. He urged two points in support of his contention: (i) The lower Court is bound to pass a final decree in accordance with Order 34, Rule 5, Civil P.C., if it is found that payment as directed was not made; and (ii) assuming it can go behind the preliminary decree, it has no jurisdiction to take evidence to find out the nature of the property.

2. Reliance is placed on the recent decision of Burn and Lakshmana Rao, JJ. in Annamalai Chettiar v. Srir