JUDGMENT :

Amol Rattan Singh, J.

These two appeals arise out of two suits consolidated and heard together from the stage of the trial itself, they having been filed by the plaintiff in one against the plaintiff in the other, qua the same property; the parties to the lis being siblings, i.e. one brother and two sisters.

The brother, i.e. Arvind Kapoor, is seen to have instituted his suit first, on 14.03.2003, impleading his two sisters as defendants therein, with one sister, i.e. Sangeeta Chopra (nee Kapoor), having instituted her suit on 27.04.2004, impleading Arvind Kapoor and the other sibling, i.e. Kumud Kapoor, as defendants.

The bone of contention, as is subject matter of the lis, is the property of the parties left behind by their mother who died on 10.02.2000, the main dispute being with regard to the house left by her, i.e. house no.2174, Sector 44-C, Chandigarh, measuring 8 marlas (about 200 non-standard' sq. yards).

However, in Arvind Kapoors' suit, he also sought a 1/3rd share in the bank accounts and jewellery of the mother; with him further seeking a declaration that the family settlement relied upon by his sisters, dated 13.06.2000, was obtained by fraud and that he had be