MUDIGOWDA GOWDAPPA SANKH & ORS. vs RAMCHANDRA RAVAGOWDA SANKH & ANR.

The Supreme Court held that the partition deed executed by two brothers was a sham transaction intended to deprive the widows of A's family of their maintenance rights. The Court emphasized that a mere pretence of severance does not constitute a legal separation of joint family status, as established in Merla Ramanna v. Chelikani Jagannadha Rao, A.I.R. 1941 P.C. 48. The Court found that the income from the joint family nucleus was sufficient to support later acquisitions, thus affirming the trial court's decree that the partition deed was fraudulent and not genuine.