The plaintiffs are the legal heirs of late Thirumalaisamy. The first defendant and Thirumalaisamy are brothers born to one Athiappa Gounder. Athiappa Gounder had ancestral properties and purchased several properties including suit items 4, 4A and 5 through the income generated from the common nucleus. Late Thirumalaisamy, during his lifetime, was not in sound state of mind and he deserted his first wife and therefore, the plaintiffs filed a suit for maintenance against him and it was also decreed. Since the properties are not partitioned among the two brothers, the first plaintiff demanded for a partition of the suit properties after the death of Thirumalaisamy which was not acceded to by the defendants. The first plaintiff, though on an earlier occasion filed a suit for partition, did not press the said suit and therefore, it was dismissed and in the meanwhile, Athiappa Gounder executed a settlement deed in favour of the first defendant and the settlement deed is also not valid since the properties settled are ancestral in nature.
