JUDGMENT

T. P. Mukerjee, J. - This is an execution first appeal which has arisen under the following circumstances. The late Raja Raj Kumar was the owner of the extensive zamindary properties in Moradabad and other districts. His estate was known as Sahaspur Bilari. Raja Raj Kumar died in 1917 leaving behind him his minor son Raja Jagat Kumar, then aged four years. his widow Rani Amrit Kaur and a daughter namely Rajkumari Lakmi Devi. During the minority of Raja Jagat Kumar, the estate of Sahaspur Bilari was under the superintendence of the Court of Wards, U. P. After Raja Jagat Kumar attained majority, he assumed the control and management of the estate from the Court of Wards, but he died shortly afterwards, on 7-3-1934, in a motor accident. After his death, there were disputes regarding succession to his estate. Rani Amrit Kaur, the mother of the late Raja Jagat Kumar, claimed the entire estate by right of inheritance. Her allegation was that Rani Pritam Kaur was not the lawfully wedded wife of Raja Jagat Kumar and that, in any event, she had become unchaste, even during the life time of the Raja. It was, therefore, asserted that Rani Pritam Kaur was debarred from inheriting the estate of the deceased, Raja. There was another claimant to the estate namely, Rani Jai Devi Kunwar, but her claim was resisted by Rani Amrit Kaur on the ground that she too was not the lawfully wedded wife of Raja Jagat Kumar and further that she was a Thakur by cast, while the Raja was a Khatri. It was alleged that there could be no lawful marriage under the Hindu Law between a Thakur and a Khatri. Rajkumari. Laxmi Devi, the sister of the late Raja Jagat Kumar, supported the allegations made by her mother Rani Amrit Kaur and she further alleged that her son Jagjit Kumar had been adopted by the late Raja Jagat Kumar according to the family custom. The case of Rajkumari Laxmi Devi was that she would be the lawful heir to the estate after the death of her mother Rani Amrit Kaur, who had a life interest therein.

2. As a result of these disputes the Court of Wards, U. P. again assumed the superintendence and control of the estate of the late Raja. Eventually, on 22-9-1943, there was a registered agreement between the then Collector of Moradabad, representing the Court of Wards and Rani Pritam Kaur on the one hand and Rani Amrit Kaur and Rajkumari Laxmi Devi on the other. By means of that agreement Rani Amrit Kaur and Rajkumari Laxmi Devi unconditionally withdrew their allegations against Rani Pritam Kaur and admitted that the latter was the lawfully wedded wife of Raja Jagat Kumar, entitled to inherit the estate. It was also agreed that Rani Amrit Kaur would get an allowance of Rs. 500/- per mensem and Rajkumari Laxmi Devi would also get an allowance of Rs. 500/- per mensem from the first day of January, 1943, for the duration of their respective lives, out of the income of the Sahaspur Bilari estate. It was further agreed that Rani Amrit Kaur as well as Rajkumari Laxmi Devi both would have the right of residence in the warwick house at Moradabad pertaining to the said estate. It may be mentioned here that the agreement in question was duly signed by the Collector of Moradabad on behalf of the Court of Wards, U. P., as well as by the three contestants, namely, Rani Pritam Kaur, Rani Amrit Kaur and Rajkumari Laxmi Devi.

3. The amounts of the maintenance allowance stipulated under the agreement continued to be paid to Rani Amrit Kaur and Rajkumari Laxmi Devi by the Court of Wards. After the enactment of the U. P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Re-forms Act in the year 1952 the management of the estate by the Court of Wards, U. P. ceased and the estate was released in favour of Rani Pritam Kaur. In the year 1953 Rani Jai Devi Kunwar, who was not a party to the aforesaid agreement of 22-31943, filed a civil suit for partition against Rani Pritam Kaur (Suit No. 95 of 1953) in the court of the Civil Judge, Moradabad, claiming to be a co-widow of the late Raja Ja