SRIKRISHNA, J. - (1.) THIS appeal is directed against the judgment of the Division Bench of the Bombay High Court granting a decree for the relief of possession of the suit property together with a direction for inquiry into mesne profits, by reversing the judgment of the single Judge who had dismissed the original suit. Facts
(2.) TWO brothers, Shivchandrai and Ramvallabh, purchased a plot of land measuring 1063 sq. meters at Malviya Road, Ville Parle, Bombay in the year 1928. Haribux was the third brother, whose son was Nand Kishore and who in turn had a son by name Shashikant. The family tree of the contending parties is as under : JUDGEMENT_2605_AIR(SCW)_2004Image1.jpg In 1931, Shivchandrai and Ramvallabh constructed a building known as 'Hari Niwas' on the said land. The building comprised a ground floor, two upper floors and several separate out-houses, sheds and garages. In all,there were five separate structures having 5 different Municipal Ward and Street numbers, namely, 781 (1), (2), (3), (4) and (5). The Bombay Municipal Corporation (hereinafter "BMC") used to issue separate property tax bills in respect of these five demarcated properties. The families of Shivchandrai and Ramvallabh were occupying Hari Niwas as their family house. Shivchandrai's family expanded in due course of time and consisted of his wife Rukmanibai, three daughters and six sons. Ramvallabh's family consisted of his wife Durgabai, one daughter and his son Mahavirprasad. Satyavati, the plaintiff in the suit, which has given rise to the present appeal, is the wife of Ramprasad who is one of the sons of Shivehandrai.
(3.) SOMETIME in 1933, Bajranglal, the appellant, was born to ShivChandrai I in Hari Niwas itself. In 1939 Ramvallabh died leaving behind his wife Durgabai, one daughter and son Mahavirprasad. In 1962, one of the six sons of Shivchandrai, namely, Chandra Prakash, shifted his residence to Bandra and has been living separately. Shashikant with his father Nandkishore moved out to Madras and settled there. In 1964, Shivchandrai also moved over to Madras to settle with his nephew Nandkishore. Until his departure to Madras, Shivchandrai was carrying on a business in partnership with Mahavir Prasad in a firm known as "Gorakh Ram Golak Chand" in Bombay. The office of the said firm was situated at Choksi Chamber, Zaveri Bazar, Bombay. The partnership employed an employee by name Janardhan Dhuri. The property tax in respect of Hari Niwas building used to be paid by the said partnership firm.;