In Brief
The Supreme Court set aside a Madras High Court judgment that had allowed a property dispute suit based solely on a finding of oral partition. The respondents claimed ownership of a survey number through alleged oral partition of property originally belonging to Avinashi Gounder and subsequent inheritance from Arunachalam via an unproven will. The trial court and first appellate court had both dismissed the suit, finding the oral partition and will unproven and identifying non-joinder of necessary parties. The Supreme Court held that the High Court's judgment violated Section 100 CPC by ignoring material evidence—including that the property was never recorded in the plaintiffs' names and two pattas showed the survey number was jointly allocated with no partition. The Court confirmed the dismissal of the suit.
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