Subhodkumar & Ors Vs. Bhagwant Namdeorao Mehetre & Ors [2007] Insc 71 (25
January 2007)
Dr.
Arijit Pasayat & S. H. Kapadia Kapadia, J.
The
short question which arises for consideration in this civil appeal is : whether
on the facts and circumstances of the case the lower appellate court was right
in holding that the issue of legal necessity even if decided in favour of
defendant nos.1 to 5 (appellants herein) was not a "fact in issue"
and was therefore not a relevant fact in a suit for possession.
The
facts giving rise to this civil appeal are as follows.
Land
admeasuring 12 acres 16 gunthas in Survey No.218 situated within Chikhli
Municipal Limits, District Buldhana, was owned by Nimbaji and his family
members.
It was
an ancestral property. Nimbaji had five sons. One of his sons was Panditrao
(defendant no.6). Nimbaji and his four sons excluding Panditrao agreed to sell
9 acres 16 gunthas out of the above ancestral lands to the plaintiffs
(respondent nos.1 to 4 herein). The agreement was reduced to writing. It was
registered on 18.3.75. It was followed by a conveyance dated 31.3.75. Panditrao
was neither a party to the writing agreement nor to the sale deed. He did not
consent. He protested against the transaction. Panditrao had entered into an
agreement with defendant nos.1 to 5 on 5.11.74. It was an unregistered
agreement. It was followed by a conveyance executed by Panditrao in favour of
defendant nos.1 to 5 on 29.3.75. The transaction between Panditrao and
defendant nos.1 to 5 was confined to an area admeasuring 2 acres and 2 gunthas
of land out of 9 acres and 16 gunthas purchased by the plaintiffs. In the suit,
defendant nos.1 to 5 claimed southern portion to be in their possession.
Plaintiffs
contended that the agreement executed by Panditrao in favour of defendant nos.1
to 5 dated 5.11.74 was a fabricated antedated document, engineered to defeat
the plaintiffs' agreement with Nimbaji (karta) dated 18.3.75 under which
plaintiffs were put in possession of the land admeasuring 9 acres and 16 gunthas
on 18.3.75 and, therefore, though the defendants' conveyance dated 29.3.75 is
before the conveyance in favour of the plaintiffs dated 31.3.75 the plaintiffs
were entitled to possession of the whole land admeasuring 9 acres and 16 gunthas.
Accordingly
suit for possession was filed by the plaintiffs on the basis of the conveyance
deed dated 31.3.75. The plaintiffs, however, did not seek formal cancellation
of the conveyance executed by Panditrao in favour of defendant nos.1 to 5 dated
29.3.75.
On the
other hand, defendant nos.1 to 5 contended that their agreement dated 5.11.74
was genuine and first in point of time; that they had valid title to the land
admeasuring 2 acres and 2 gunthas and that they were not aware of the agreement
executed by Nimbaji in favour of the plaintiffs dated 18.3.75. The said
defendant nos.1 to 5 further contended that the sale dated 31.3.75 by Nimbaji
and the four coparceners was not for legal necessity and was, therefore, not
binding on the sons of Nimbaji including Panditrao and consequently the
conveyance executed by Panditrao in favour of defendant nos.1 to 5 dated
29.3.75 was good in law as Panditrao was a coparcener who had transferred his
undivided share to defendant nos.1 to 5 in accordance with law.
Considering
all the evidence on record and after hearing both sides, the trial court held
that the agreement executed by Panditrao in favour of defendant nos.1 to 5 on
5.11.74 was fabricated and antedated; that there was no partition between Panditrao
and his brothers and Nimbaji as alleged by defendant nos.1 to 5; and that the
transaction between Nimbaji and the plaintiffs was for legal necessity.
Consequently,
the trial court decreed the suit in favour of the plaintiffs upholding
conveyance dated 31.3.75 executed by Nimbaji in favour of the plaintiffs.
Aggrieved
by the aforestated decision, defendant nos.1 to 5 went in appeal to the
Additional District Judge, Buldhana, vide Regular Civil Appeal No.82 of 1986.
By
judgment and order dated 12.3.1990 the lower appellate court came to the
conclusion, inter alia, that the transaction between Nimbaji and the plaintiffs
was not for legal necessity; that in a suit for possession based on the
conveyance executed by the karta and four coparceners the issue of legal
necessity was redundant as Nimbaji and his four sons had consented to the
transfer of their undivided share in the lands admeasuring 9 acres and 16 gunthas
in favour of the plaintiffs; and that the issue of legal necessity was
irrelevant as it did not create any right in favour of defendant nos.1 to 5. It
was further held that agreement dated 5.11.74 executed by Panditrao in favour
of defendant nos.1 to 5 was antedated and that defendant nos.1 to 5 were not
the bona fide purchasers for value without notice.
The
lower appellate court further held that in any event since the conveyance was
executed by Nimbaji with his four sons in favour of the plaintiffs pursuant to which
the plaintiffs were put in possession of the land admeasuring 9 acres 16 gunthas
the issue of legal necessity became irrelevant. The lower appellate court also
came to the conclusion that the plaintiffs were forcibly dispossessed and,
therefore, they were entitled to possession even if they failed to prove their
title.
Aggrieved
by the aforestated judgment, defendant nos.1 to 5 carried the matter in second
appeal to the High Court.
By
impugned judgment dated 24.3.03, the High Court came to the conclusion that the
transaction in favour of the plaintiffs executed by Nimbaji and his four sons
was on account of legal necessity; that the plaintiffs had established their
need by way of marriage and educational expenses; that the plaintiffs had
proved the legal necessity;
that
the law requires that the need should be established and it was not necessary
to consider whether the consideration received by Nimbaji and his four sons
exceeded their need and accordingly it was held that the trial court was right
in coming to the conclusion that the conveyance executed by Nimbaji in favour
of the plaintiffs dated 31.3.75, was for legal necessity. In the result, all
the three courts decreed the suit in favour of the plaintiffs for different
reasons.
Mr.
V.A. Mohta, learned senior counsel appearing on behalf of defendant nos.1 to 5
(appellants herein), submitted that the lower appellate court had rightly held
that there was no legal necessity for Nimbaji and his four sons to execute the
conveyance in favour of the plaintiffs on 31.3.75. It was urged that the lower
appellate court was pleased to give the above finding as a court on facts.
Learned
counsel urged that on this finding alone the lower appellate court should have
dismissed the suit of the plaintiffs for possession and mesne profits. Learned
counsel submitted that conveyance dated 31.3.75 was executed by the Karta and
his four sons in favour of the plaintiffs without consent of Panditrao and
without legal necessity. Learned counsel submitted that Panditrao was also
coparcener and entitled to a share in the property who neither consented nor
signed the conveyance in favour of the plaintiffs and who on the contrary had
entered into a conveyance on 29.3.75 in favour of defendant nos.1 to 5 in
respect of his undivided share and since Panditrao had sold 2 acres and 2 gunthas
of land out of 9 acres and 16 gunthas earlier in point of time Nimbaji could
not have sold the same land twice over.
We do
not find any merit in the above civil appeal.
Even
assuming for the sake of argument that the conveyance dated 31.3.75 executed by
Nimbaji and his four sons was not for legal necessity even then the defendants'
position cannot improve. Nimbaji was the Karta of the Hindu Undivided Family. Lands
admeasuring 9 acres and 16 gunthas was an ancestral property of Nimbaji. Nimbaji
had five sons. Nimbaji and his four sons agreed to sell their ancestral lands
to the plaintiffs. Agreement was reduced into writing. Agreement was
registered.
Agreement
was followed by a conveyance. Conveyance was followed by possession given to
the plaintiffs who claim to be forcibly dispossessed. Defendant nos.1 to 5 failed
to institute proceedings for general partition. The primary step of defendant
nos.1 to 5 was to sue for partition. They failed to take any steps in this
regard. No consequential relief was claimed by them for partition and for
demarcation for their share. The plaintiffs had instituted the suit for
possession on the ground that they were forcibly dispossessed by defendant
nos.1 to 5. Since the Karta of Hindu Undivided Family with his four sons had
executed the conveyance in favour of the plaintiffs, the suit filed by the
plaintiffs for possession cannot be dismissed on the ground of lack of legal
necessity. A karta has power to alienate for value the joint family property
either for necessity or for benefit of the estate. He can alienate with the
consent of all the coparceners of the family. When he alienates for legal
necessity he alienates an interest which is larger than his undivided interest.
When the Karta, however, conveys by way of imprudent transaction, the
alienation is voidable to the extent of the undivided share of the
non-consenting coparcener which in the present case was Panditrao. In the
present case, Panditrao did not sue for partition. He did not ask for
demarcation of his share.
Defendant
nos.1 to 5 who claim through Panditrao seek possession of a specific portion of
the land to be demarcated without filing a suit for partition by metes and
bounds. The conveyance by Nimbaji and his four sons is not disputed by the said
coparceners. The conveyance executed by Nimbaji and others is true which is
different from saying that it is an imprudent transaction. Once it is found
that the conveyance executed by Nimbaji and others is true under which the
plaintiffs were put in possession and later on disposed, in the suit for
possession, in such an event, the issue of legal necessity becomes irrelevant.
A mere declaration that transaction was imprudent or was not for legal
necessity in such a suit cannot give any right to defendant nos.1 to 5 to get
the demarcated portion of 2 acres 2 gunthas of land on the southern side
without the said defendants taking appropriate proceedings in accordance with
law.
In the
case of Sunil Kumar and another v. Ram Parkash and others ___ AIR 1988 SC 576,
this Court has held that the right to obstruct alienation is different from the
right to challenge the alienation. The coparcener has a right to challenge the
alienation. However, he has no right to interfere in the act of management of
the joint family affairs. In this connection, the following observations in paras
21 to 26 of this Court are relevant to be noted:
-
"In a Hindu family, the karta
or manager occupies a unique position. It is not as if anybody could become
manager of a joint Hindu family. "As a general rule, the father of a
family, if alive, and in his absence the senior member of the family, is alone
entitled to manage the joint family property." The manager occupies a
position superior to other members. He has greater rights and duties. He must
look after the family interest. He is entitled to possession of the entire
joint estate.
He is
also entitled to manage the family properties. In other words, the actual
possession and management of the joint family property must vest in him. He may
consult the members of the family and if necessary take their consent to his
action but he is not answerable to every one of them.
-
The legal position of karta or
manager has been succinctly summarised in the MAYNE'S Hindu Law (12th Ed. Para
318) thus:
318.
Manager's Legal position "The position of a karta or manager is sui generis:
the
relation between him and the other members of the family is not that of
principal and agent, or of partners, it is more like that of a trustee and cestui
que trust. But the fiduciary relationship does not involve all the duties which
are imposed upon trustees.
-
The managing member or karta has not
only the power to manage but also power to alienate joint family property. The
alienation may be either for family necessity or for the benefit of the estate.
Such alienation would bind the interests of all the undivided members of the
family whether they are adults or minors. The oft quoted decision in this
aspect, is that of the Privy Council in Hanuman Parshad v. M.T. Babooee (1956)
6 Moo Ind. App. 393. There it was observed at
p.
423:
(1) "The power of the manager for an infant heir to charge an estate not
his own is, under the Hindu law, a limited and qualified power. It can only be
exercised rightly in case of need, or for the benefit of the estate." This
case was that of a mother, managing as guardian for an infant heir. A father
who happens to be the manager of an undivided Hindu family certainly has
greater powers to which I will refer a little later. Any other manager however,
is not having anything less than those stated in the said case. Therefore, it
has been repeatedly held that the principles laid down in that case apply
equally to a father or other coparcener who manages the joint family estate.
Remedies
against alienations:
-
Although the power of disposition of
joint family property has been conceded to the manager of joint Hindu family
for the reasons aforesaid, the law raises no presumption as to the validity of
his transactions. His acts could be questioned in the Court of law. The other
members of the family have a right to have the transaction declared void, if
not justified.
When an
alienation is challenged as being unjustified or illegal it would be for the alienee
to prove that there was legal necessity in fact or that he made proper and bona
fide enquiry as to the existence of such necessity. It would be for the alienee
to prove that he did all that was reasonable to satisfy himself as to the
existence of such necessity. If the alienation is found to be unjustified, then
it would be declared void. Such alienations would be void except to the extent
of manager's share in Madras, Bombay and Central
Provinces. The
purchaser could get only the manager's share.
But in
other provinces, the purchaser would not get even that much. The entire
alienation would be void. [Mayne's Hindu Law 11th ed.
para
396].
-
In the light of these principles, I
may now examine the correctness of the contentions urged in this appeal. The
submissions of Mr.
H.N.Salve,
as I understand, proceeded firstly on the premise that a coparcener has as much
interest as that of karta in the coparcenary property. Second, the right of
coparcener in respect of his share in the ancestral property would remain
unimpaired, if the alienation is not for legal necessity or for the benefit of
the estate. When these two rights are preserved to a coparcener, why should he
not prevent the karta from dissipating the ancestral property by moving the
Court? Why should he vainly wait till the purchaser gets title to the property?
This appears to be the line of reasoning adopted by the learned Counsel.
-
I do not think that these
submissions are sound. It is true that a coparcener takes by birth an interest
in the ancestral property, but he is not entitled to separate possession of the
coparcenary estate. His rights are not independent of the control of the karta.
It would be for the karta to consider the actual pressure on the joint family
estate. It would be for him to forsee the danger to be averted. And it would be
for him to examine as to how best the joint family estate could be beneficially
put into use to subserve the interests of the family.
A
coparcener cannot interfere in these acts of management. Apart from that, a
father-karta in addition to the aforesaid powers of alienation has also the
special power to sell or mortgage ancestral property to discharge his
antecedent debt which is not tainted with immorality. If there is no such need
or benefit, the purchaser takes risk and the right and interest of coparcener
will remain unimpaired in the alienated property. No doubt the law confers a
right on the coparcener to challenge the alienation made by karta, but that
right is not inclusive of the right to obstruct alienation.
Nor
the right to obstruct alienation could be considered as incidental to the right
to challenge the alienation. These are two distinct rights. One is the right to
claim a share in the joint family estate free from unnecessary and unwanted
encumbrance. The other is a right to interfere with the act of management of
the joint family affairs. The coparcener cannot claim the latter right and
indeed, he is not entitled for it. Therefore, he cannot move the court to grant
relief by injunction restraining the karta from alienating the coparcenary
property." In the case of Sidheshwar Mukherjee v.
Bhubneshwar
Prasad Narain Singh and others ___ AIR 1953 SC 487, this Court vide paras 9 and
11 has held as follows:
-
"It is true
that under the Mitakshara law, as it is administered in the State of Bihar, no
coparcener can alienate, even for valuable consideration, his undivided
interest in the joint property without the consent of his coparceners; but
although a coparcener is incompetent to alienate voluntarily his undivided coparcenary
interest, it is open to the creditor, who has obtained a decree against him
personally, to attach and put up to sale this undivided interest, and after
purchase to have the interest separated by a suit for partition.
11.
'Civil Appeals Nos.54 and 55 of 1951'.
Coming
now to the Money Appeals, the point for consideration is a short one. The suits
out of which these appeals arise were instituted by the plaintiff in the
partition suit against the first party defendants for recovery of his 4 annas
share of the income or profits of the properties specified in the schedules to
the plaints and which were included admittedly in his purchase, on the
allegation that the defendants first party appropriated the entire profits to
themselves and refused to give the plaintiff his legitimate share. The High
Court has held that this claim of the plaintiff must fail. All that he
purchased at the execution sale was the undivided interest of the coparceners
in the joint property. He did not acquire title to any defined share in the
property & was not entitled to joint possession from the date of his
purchase. He could work out his rights only by a suit for partition and his
right to possession would date from the period when a specific allotment was
made in his favour. In our opinion, this is the right view to take and Mr. Daphtary,
who appeared in support of the appeals, could not satisfy us that in law his
client was entitled to joint possession on and from the date of purchase.
The
result is that these appeals are dismissed with costs." In the case of Balmukand
v. Kamla Wati and others ___ AIR 1964 SC 1385, this Court has held that in
exceptional circumstances the Court will uphold the alienation of a part of a
joint family property by a Karta.
We
quote hereinbelow para 7 of the said judgment in this regard:
7.
"The next
case is Sital Prasad Singh v.
Ajablal
Mander, I.L.R. 18 Pat. 306 : (AIR 1939 Pat. 370). That was a case in which one
of the questions which arose for consideration was the power of a manager to
alienate part of the joint family property for the acquisition of new property.
In that case also the test applied to the transaction entered into by a manager
of a joint Hindu family was held to be the same, that is, whether the
transaction was one into which a prudent owner would enter in the ordinary
course of management in order to benefit the estate. Following the view taken
in the Allahabad case the learned Judges also held
that the expression "benefit of the estate" has a wider meaning than
mere compelling necessity and is not limited to transactions of a purely
defensive nature. In the course of his judgment Harries C.J. observed at p. 311
(of I.L.R. Pat.) : (at p.372 of AIR) :
".......
the karta of a joint Hindu family being merely a manager and not an absolute
owner, the Hindu law has, like other systems of law, placed certain limitations
upon his power to alienate property which is owned by the joint family. The
Hindu law givers, however, could not have intended to impose any such
restriction on his power as would virtually disqualify him from doing anything
to improve the conditions of the family. The only reasonable limitation which
can be imposed on the karta is that he must act with prudence, and prudence
implies caution as well as foresight and excludes hasty, reckless and arbitrary
conduct." After observing that the transaction entered into by a manager
should not be of a speculative nature the learned Chief Justice observed :
"In
exceptional circumstances, however, the court will uphold the alienation of a
part of the joint family property by a karta for the acquisition of new
property as, for example, where all the adult members of the joint family with
the knowledge available to them and possessing all the necessary information
about the means and requirements of the family are convinced that the proposed
purchase of the new property is for the benefit of the estate." (emphasis
supplied) In the present case, Nimbaji and his four sons have conveyed, in any
event, their undivided share in the land admeasuring 9 acres 16 gunthas to the
plaintiffs.
Defendant
nos.1 to 5 are seeking a certain specific portion out of the total area of 9
acres 16 gunthas to be allotted to them coming from the share of Panditrao.
However, neither Panditrao nor their successors-in-title, namely, defendant
nos.1 to 5 (appellants herein) instituted a suit for partition.
In the
circumstances, the lower appellate court was right in holding that legal
necessity in the present suit for possession was not a "fact in
issue". All the courts below decreed the suit in favour of the plaintiffs.
However, it is not in dispute that Panditrao was the non-consenting coparcener;
that he had objected to the transaction by Nimbaji right from inception; that
in the suit plaintiffs did not seek cancellation of the sale deed by Panditrao
and, therefore, it will be open to the appellants herein to take appropriate
proceedings in accordance with law for specific demarcation of the undivided
share of Panditrao.
Subject
to what is stated above, the present civil appeal is dismissed with no order as
to costs.
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