R.D. Bhanuka, J.—By this second appeal filed under Section 100 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, the appellants (original defendants) have impugned the order and judgment dated 3rd September 1992 passed by the III Additional District Judge, Solapur allowing the appeal filed by the original plaintiffs and setting aside the decree passed by the learned trial Judge dismissing the suit for a decree for partition and separate possession.

2. The original plaintiffs had filed a suit for declaration and perpetual injunction and in the alternative for partition and separate possession of share in certain agricultural lands. For the sake of convenience, the parties to the present proceedings are described as they were described in the proceedings before the learned trial Judge in the later part of the judgment. Some of the relevant facts for the purpose of deciding this second appeal are as under :-

3. The present dispute pertains to the lands 783, 789, 790/1, 792/2, 855, 906, 911/1, 911/2 and 777 all situated at Waphale, Taluka Mohol, District Solapur. It was the case of the plaintiffs that the suit lands were ancestral properties of late Namdeo Sambha Jadhav. It was alleged by t