In Brief
The appellant sought partition and separate possession of joint family properties, claiming entitlement through his grandfather's will. A prior judgment had found that these properties were partitioned in 1964, but the appellant filed a fresh suit challenging this. The Supreme Court held that once a prior judgment establishing partition has attained finality and been acted upon without challenge, the principle of res judicata bars a fresh suit for the same relief. The Court also clarified that an arbitration award serving merely as a memorandum of family arrangement for future partition does not require registration, as it does not create immediate rights in specific immovable properties. The appeal was dismissed.
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