Judgement

VENKATARAMA AYYAR, J. : This appeal arises out of a suit instituted on 31-5-1935 by the first respondent, Mst. Naimunnisa Bibi and her sister, Khadijaul-Kubra Bibi, since deceased, for partition of their shares in the estates of their father, Sheik Ataullah, who died sometime in 1892. The defendants to the action were their brothers. Sheik Kifayatullah and Sheik Mohammad Baqar.

The plaintiffs alleged that after the death of their father, Sheik Ataullah, they and the defendants were living together as members of one family, that the first defendant was in management of the properties on behalf of all of them, that on 10-8-1933 the defendants executed a deed of waqf-alal-aulad for the benefit of their descendants, and that the said deed was a denial of their rights. They accordingly prayed for partition and delivery of 14/48th share in the estate of the deceased Sheik Ataullah, which they claimed as belonging to them, for an account of the management of the same by the first defendant from 1892 and for future mesne profits from 2-2-1934.

The defendants contested the suit on only three grounds, viz., (1) that there was a family custom excluding the female heirs from sharing in