SHRIPAD GAJANAN SUTHANKAR vs DATTARAM KASHINATH SUTHANKAR AND ORS.

The Supreme Court held that under the Mitakshara School of Hindu Law, a widow's adoption cannot invalidate a prior partition, allowing the adopted son to claim a share as if he were born to the adoptive father at his death. The Court affirmed that lawful alienations made before the adoption are immune to challenge by the adopted son. It ruled that the adopted son's share should be calculated justly, leading to a decree granting him half of the properties allotted to the first defendant at the 1944 partition, excluding gifts made prior to the adoption.