SC – Legal Heirs Necessary Party to Suit of Partition of Ancestral Property

Order dated 28.9.2026 of the Supreme  Court in SLP (Civil) No.2008-20010 of 2026 of Geeta Bai and others  Vs.  K. Arjun Singh and others

The appellants herein are the legal heirs of Late Smt. Ballo Bai, who was the daughter and legal heir of Late Shri Tikaram Singh. It is the specific case of the appellants that Smt. Ballo Bai was entitled to an undivided 1/4th share in the suit property by virtue of Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, as amended by Act 39 of 2005. Original Suit for partition No.473 of 2000 was filed by Late Shri Dhan Singh, son of Late Shri Tikaram Singh, in the Court of IV Additional Senior Civil Judge (FTC), Ranga Reddy District at L.B. Nagar against his brother Late Shri Satyanarayan Singh (defendant No.1), and the legal heirs of Late Shri Sheetal Singh, who was also a son of Late Shri Tikaram Singh and the brother of the plaintiff.

However, Late Smt. Ballo Bai was not impleaded as a defendant in the suit.  The trial Court decreed the suit.  In the High Court, the parties had settled the matter.   The applications of the appellants in the High Court were rejected that the appellants are required to file separate suit or an appeal.

The compromise decree obtained by the brothers/legal heirs being the plaintiffs and the defendants without impleading Late Smt. Ballo Bai or her legal heirs, despite her being a necessary party to the suit, was a nullity in the eyes of law. 13. By no stretch of imagination could Late Smt. Ballo Bai and her legal heirs be treated as strangers to the lis and thus they could not be disentitled from challenging the compromise and to seek recall of a decree obtained behind their back by virtue of the bar contained under Order XXIII Rule 3A of the CPC.