Enfranchisement confers absolute title on the holder of the office, and the inam patta grants a good title to the person in whose name it is issued.

Devadoss, J.

1. Plaintiff and defendants 1 to 31 are the descendants of five brothers. The plaintiff represents one branch, defendants 1 to 6 another branch, defendants 7 to 9 the third branch, defendants 10 to 12 the, fourth branch and defendants 13 to 31 the fifth branch. The plaintiffs suit is for partition of his share of the family property. The plaint property was karnam service inam and was enfranchised in 1903 and inam title deeds were issued in 1904.

2. Defendants 1 to 9 pleaded that 40 acres and odd were not joint family property and the plaintiff could not claim a share of it. Defendants 13 to 31 pleaded that 23 acres and odd were their separate property and the rest of the property, about 40 acres odd, was joint family property and they, as representing the fifth branch, were entitled to one-fifth share.

3. The Subordinate Judge granted a preliminary decree for partition in favour of the plaintiff for one-fifth of the plaint property. Against that decree defendants 7, 8 and 9 preferred one appeal and defendants 13 to 16, 31, 17 to 22 and 24 to 30 preferred another appeal. The District Judge dismissed both the appeals and affirmed the judgment of the Subordinate Judge. The defendants have preferred this appeal, and evidently defendants 1 to 9 and 13 to 31 have made common cause against the plaintiff.

4. The first contention urged by Mr. Somayya for the appellant is that the enfranchisement was for the benefit: of the karnam and the other members of the family had no interest in the plaint property. At the time of the enfranchisement the karnams office was held by Venugopal Rao under whom, the defendants 13 to 31 claim. The argument of Mr. Somayya is that Venugopal Rao was karnam at the time of the enfranchisement and the enfranchisement must therefore be for his benefit and the inam lands enfranchised became his private property, and he strongly relies upon the recent decision in Venkata Jagannadha v. Veerabhadrayya (1921) ILR 44M 643 : 41 MLJ 1(P.C.). What really happened in this case was : Venugopal Rao was appointed karnam in the place of his father. He brought a suit, S.S. No. 47 of 1902, for recovery of the inam property attached to the office of karnam against the relations and a decree was passed in his favour for possession of 3 puttis and 19 tooms, vide Ex. 1. This decree was affirmed on appeal by the Collector of Goda-vari District on 14th January, 1904, vide Ex. 1. Before the appeal was disposed of proceedings for the enfranchisement of the karnams. inam were started and the Inam Deputy Collector passed proceedings on 2nd August, 1903 and directed that inam title deed should be issued in the names of the persons who were actually in possession of the land constituting the karnams inam. Vide Ex. 11. Venugopal who was given a decree for possession of 3 puttis and 19 tooms was unable to get possession of what was decreed to him by reason of the issue of an injunction in a suit by some of the defendants against the delivery of the property to him. The Inam Deputy Collector in his proceedings did not order patta in the name of Venugopal Rao. He ordered patta to be issued only in the names of persons then in actual occupation of the inam lands. His father Kama Razu was in possession of some of the inam lands and his name was included in the inam patta. If the enfranchisement was for the benefit of the karnam then in office, no doubt Venugopal Rao would have been entitled to the whole of the enfranchised land. But the Inam Deputy Collector for reasons which are not quite clear directed patta to be issued only in the names of persons in actual occupation, and he even included the name of one Ammanchi Lakshmamma, the widow of one of the members of the family on the ground that she had an interest in the inam property. In Venkata Jagannadha v. Veerabhadrayya (1921) ILR 44M 643 : 41 MLJ 1 (P.C.) it was decided that when land is enfranchised and patta is issued in the name of a karnam, the enfranchised inam land