Telangana HC: Property bought in one legal heir's name without proof of self-earning falls in the joint family pool
The question: Are Schedule A, C and D properties, which the eldest son accepted as ancestral, available for partition as joint family property?
The Telangana High Court has dismissed an appeal that had been pending since 2000 in a family partition dispute, holding that once a joint family nucleus is shown to exist, any property purchased in the name of one legal heir, without evidence of self-earning, falls in the common pool of joint family properties. Justice Suddala Chalapathi Rao confirmed the judgment and decree of 1 December 1999 of the Senior Civil Judge, Nagarkurnool, in O.S. No. 1 of 1994, which had ordered partition of all four schedules of property. The suit was filed by the mother, her youngest son, her daughter and the youngest son's wife against the eldest son and his wife. They said that land left by the family's father, Yeddula Yella Reddy, who died without a will on 9 September 1989, and other properties purchased later, was joint family property. The eldest son accepted that Schedules A, C and D were ancestral, but said that Schedule B was bought with his own funds and was his self-acquired property. The mother died on 17 March 1996, while the suit was pending, after leaving a registered Will in favour of her youngest son. The trial court decreed the suit and directed the plaintiffs to apply for an Advocate Commissioner to divide the properties by metes and bounds for a final decree. The eldest son and his wife appealed. The appeal was reserved on 2 July 2026 and decided on 1 October 2026.