1996 Supreme(Pat) 823
PATNA HIGH COURT
Asok Kumar Ganguly, J.
Aisha Shaukat
Versus
State Of Bihar
Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 4283 of 1984 ;
Decided On : DECEMBER 18, 1996
For a valid gift under the Mohammedan Law, three conditions must be satisfied: (a) declaration of gift by the donor, (b) acceptance of gift expressed or implied by or on behalf of the donee, and (c) delivery of possession of the subject of gift by the donor to the donee.
Headnote:
LAND CEILING - SURPLUS LAND - GIFT DEEDS - VALIDITY - REQUIREMENTS - DELIVERY OF POSSESSION - MUSHA DOCTRINE - INAPPLICABILITY.
Fact of the Case:
The petitioners challenged the orders of the Additional Member, Board of Revenue, Bihar, Patna, the Collector, East Champaran at Motihari, and the Additional Collector, East Champaran, declaring their land as surplus land of respondent No. 5 Farzand Ali. The petitioners claimed that the land of other persons had been clubbed together with their land and that the classification of land had been done arbitrarily. They also argued that the deeds of gift executed in their favor were valid and should have been accepted by the authorities.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the deeds of gift were not valid as the donors had not divested themselves of the subject-matter of the gift and the donees had not taken any step towards obtaining constructive possession of the gifted properties. The court also held that the doctrine of musha, which allows for the gift of an undivided part of a property, was not applicable in this case as the subject-matter of the gift was divisible.
Issues: 1. Whether the deeds of gift executed by the petitioners were valid under the Mohammedan Law? 2. Whether the doctrine of musha applied to the gift of an undivided part of the property?
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The court held that for a valid gift under the Mohammedan Law, three conditions must be satisfied: (a) declaration of gift by the donor, (b) acceptance of gift expressed or implied by or on behalf of the donee, and (c) delivery of possession of the subject of gift by the donor to the donee. The court found that in the present case, the donors had not divested themselves of the subject-matter of the gift and the donees had not taken any step towards obtaining constructive possession of the gifted properties. Therefore, the deeds of gift were not valid. 2. The court held that the doctrine of musha, which allows for the gift of an undivided part of a property, was not applicable in this case as the subject-matter of the gift was divisible.
Final Decision: The court dismissed the writ petition, holding that the orders of the authorities declaring the petitioners' land as surplus land were valid and that the deeds of gift were not valid.
A. K. Ganguly, J.
1. This writ petition has been filed with a prayer for quashing the order passed by the additional Member, Board of Revenue, bihar, Patna as also the order passed by the Collector, East Champaran at motihari and the Additional Collector, east Champaran. By these orders the aforesaid authorities have declared the land held by the petitioners to be surplus land of respondent No.5 Farzand Ali.
2. The facts of this case, briefly stated, are noted below: a land ceiling case No.60 of 1982-83 was started afresh after a previous proceeding in respect of the same land, stood abated and a draft statement dated 12-10-1982 was issued in the name of tahir Ali alone. In the said draft statement the total land belonging to Tahir Ali and his two brothers Farzand Ali and Taiyab Ali were shown as 541.64 1/2 acres. The objection filed by the petitioners and said tahir Ali is that the land of other persons have been clubbed together with their land and the classification of land has been done in an arbitrary manner. Further case of the petitioners is that the land which had been transferred to third parties before 22-10-1959 as well as the land which had been sold prior to 9-9-1970 and the land which had been gifted during the period of grace to others were wrongly clubbed together with the land of the petitioners. On the basis of the said objection, a detailed hearing took place before the Additional Collector, East Champaran at Motihari. In the said hearing, partly the objection filed by the petitioners were allowed relating to classification of land and three units of class IV lands in favour of the three brothers were allowed. But in the order passed by the Additional Colluctor the deeds of gift were not accepted nor did the Additional Collector accept the transfer made to the third parties. Thereafter an appeal was filed by Farzand Ali (respondent No.5) under Sec.30 of the Bihar Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling area and Acquisition of Surplus Land)Act (hereinafter referred to as the said Act)and the petitioners also joined in the said appeal in the category of the appellants land ultimately the appellate authority on a detailed consideration of the entire matter passed an order dated 6th February, 1984 i dismissing the appeal. Thereafter a revision was filed which was also rejected by the learned Additional Member Board of Revenue, Bihar, Patna by order dated 7th August, 1984.
3. In this writ petition all those orders have been challenged. It appears that along with this writ petition, two other writ petitions, namely, C. W. J. C. No.4141 of 1984 and 4142 of 1984 were also filed and those two writ petitions were directed to be heard together. It appears that those two writ petitions, namely, C. W. J. C. No.4141 of 1984 and 4142 of 1984 stood dismissed for default on 17-8-1994. It also appears that applications for restoration of those two writ petitions have been filed and are pending before this Court for disposal.
4. Before the appellate authority, the case of the writ petitioners was that farzand Ali, Tahir Ali and Taiyab Ali are three brothers of whom Tahir Ali and Taiyab Ali are not party to this writ-petition. Shaukat Ah, Hashmat Ali, anwar Ali and Asghar Ali who are writ petitions No.1 to 4 here are sons of Farzand Ali and all those persons had joined in the category of the appellants before the said appellate authority.
5. The ground of appeal which was taken before the appellate authority relating to classification of land was dismissed by the appellate authority and before this Court also the said part of the judgment of the appellate authority was not assailed. What has been assailed before this Court is the question of gift given to the appellants who are writ petitioners before this Court at the time of inception of the said Act.
6. The original gift deeds were produced before the appellate authority and the appellate authority has perused the same and on perusal of the gift deeds executed by Tahir Ali