In Brief
The plaintiff sought partition of ancestral joint family properties, claiming a one-fourth share by virtue of a will executed by his grandfather. The respondents contended that the properties had already been partitioned in 1964 through an arbitral award, and that the partition had attained finality through a prior court decision. The Court held that the 1964 award was a mere memorandum of understanding for future division and did not require registration as it did not allocate specific properties. However, since the prior finding of partition had attained finality and was never challenged, the principle of res judicata barred the fresh suit. The Court dismissed the appeal, confirming that once a question of fact regarding partition is finally decided, parties cannot relitigate the same matter.
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