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2013 Supreme(SC) 634

CHANDRAMAULI KR.PRASAD, V.GOPALA GOWDA
Rohit Chauhan – Appellant
Versus
Surinder Singh – Respondent


Judgement Key Points

Certainly. Based on the provided legal document, here are the key points:

  • Coparcenary property refers to property that includes ancestral property, and a coparcener is someone who shares equally in inheritance from a common ancestor. It is a narrower concept than the entire joint Hindu family. A coparcener has an undivided interest that can enlarge or diminish over time due to births or deaths in the family (!) .

  • A coparcener does not have a fixed share but an interest that changes with family events. Property remains separate if it is in the hands of a single person after partition, but if a son is subsequently born, the property becomes coparcenary, and the son acquires an interest in it (!) .

  • A father acting as Karta can transfer ancestral property only for legal necessity. Alienation without such necessity is invalid (!) .

  • When a person receives property from ancestors through survivorship, it remains coparcenary; however, property obtained through will, consent, or partition may lose its coparcenary character and become self-acquired property (!) (!) .

  • The character of property as ancestral or self-acquired can change based on how it was acquired and whether a subsequent birth of a coparcener (e.g., a son) occurs. Property allocated to a sole surviving coparcener remains separate until a son is born, after which it becomes coparcenary property (!) (!) .

  • In the specific case discussed, property received by the father on partition was initially separate but gained characteristics of coparcenary property after the birth of the plaintiff. Therefore, alienations made by the father after the plaintiff's birth, without legal necessity, were invalid (!) (!) (!) .

  • Conversely, if property was acquired through partition and was not survivorship property, it could be considered self-acquired, giving the owner full rights to deal with it as they wish, including alienation, without restrictions. This was the basis for the appellate courts' decisions in the case (!) (!) .

  • The courts emphasized that the legal character of property—whether coparcenary or self-acquired—is crucial in determining the validity of alienations. Alienations made without legal necessity in coparcenary property are null and void, whereas self-acquired property can be freely dealt with by the owner (!) .

  • The Supreme Court ultimately restored the trial court's decision, ruling that the property in question was coparcenary at the time of alienation, and the alienations made by the father without legal necessity were invalid. The appellate courts' conclusions that the property had become self-acquired and could be freely alienated were overturned (!) .

These points summarize the legal principles and the facts of the case as discussed in the document.


Judgment :-

Chandramauli Kr. Prasad, J.

Sole plaintiff Rohit Chauhan is the appellant before us. His grandfather Budhu had three sons, namely, Gulab Singh, Zile Singh and one Ram Kumar. Gulab Singh, father of the plaintiff, has been arrayed as defendant no. 2, whereas son of Zile Singh i.e. Surinder Singh figures as defendant no. 1 in the suit. In partition between Budhu and his three sons, defendant no. 2 got 1/4 share i.e., 72 Kanals of land. In the said partition Budhu also got 72 Kanals of land and he bequeathed 1/4 of his share i.e., 18 Kanals to each of his three sons and kept with himself 18 Kanals. After the death of Budhu, defendant no. 2 inherited 1/3 share i.e., 6 Kanals and in this way plaintiff’s father Gulab Singh, defendant no. 2,got 96 Kanals of land. Defendant No.2 during his lifetime also acquired 8 Kanals of land from the income of the properties which he got in partition amongst his father and brothers. At the time of partition defendant no. 2 was unmarried. But later on, Gulab Singh was married to defendant no. 7, Rajesh Rani and from the wedlock the plaintiff as also defendant no. 6 were born. Plaintiff was born on 25th of March, 1982.

Plaintiff alleged that hi






















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