Abdur Rahim, J.

1. The plaintiff, appellant, sued on several promissory notes executed by one Ranga Charlu, who died about six months before the institution of the suit, asking for a decree for Rs. 3,237.80 on account of principal and interest due on the notes and seeking to recover the amount out of his assets consisting of the share which, it is alleged, Rangacharlu bad in the properties in the possession of the 1st defendant, his father, defendants Nos. 2 to 4, his brothers, and the 5th defendant, his widow. The main questions are, firstly, are the properties in dispute the ancestral properties of the family in the hands of the 1st defendant or his self-acquired and separate property, secondly, if ancestral, was there a division of status between Rangacharlu on the one hand and his father and brothers on the other, and, thirdly, is the instrument, Exhibit II, which is described as a release executed by Rangacharlu in favour of the 1st defendant, valid and operative as being made in bona fide settlement of a family dispute or is it liable to be avoided as being made to defeat Rangacharlus creditors?

2. The 1st defendant obtained the property under a Will of his father, date