JUDGMENT :

PRAYER: Second Appeal is filed under Section 100 of the Civil Procedure Code, against the judgment and decree in A.S.No.172 of 2006, dated 31.01.2007 on the file of the Principal District Judge, Trichirappalli, reversing the decree and judgment in O.S.No.597 of 2000, dated 05.10.2005 on the file of the second Additional Sub Judge, Tiruchirappalli.

The contesting defendant in O.S.No.597 of 2000 on the file of the second Additional Sub Judge, Tiuchirappalli, is the appellant in this second appeal.

2. The original appellant had passed away and his legal heirs have come on record. The first respondent herein Thiru.Irulan filed the said suit seeking partition of 1/2 share in the suit properties. The original appellant Ayinan who was shown as the first defendant, was the younger brother of the plaintiff.

3.The case of the first defendant was that the partition had already taken place some 40 years prior to the institution of the suit and that therefore, the suit was not maintainable. The first defendant specifically contended that out of the labour put in by him, income was generated from the lands and with those funds, the first defendant had put up a house and also obtained serv