High Court of Delhi
PRADEEP NANDRAJOG & MUKTA GUPTA, JJ.
Navneet Arora
Versus
Surender Kaur & Others
FAO(OS). No. 196 of 2014
Decided on: 10-09-2014
Protection of Women From Domestic Violence Act, 2005 - Section 2(s), 12, 17(1), 19(1)(f) - Right of residence - Dispossession - Marital home - Shared household - N married G and was living as one family with his parents - His brother and her wife were also residing in the same house - Kitchen was one - Two sons and their father were joint in business - Kitchen was run from the income of the joint business - N never left the joint family house was residing in the house when her husband died - N continued to reside there even till today - Held her right to residence in the suit property cannot be denied - Right of residence under the PWDV Act would have no bearing - Right of residence may be enforced in civil proceedings - But her right of residence in the shared household cannot be negated - Appeal allowed and impugned order is set aside.
Pradeep Nandrajog, J.
1. Late Sh.Harpal Singh Arora was the registered owner of property bearing municipal No.B-44, Vishal Enclave Rajouri Garden, New Delhi. He acquired ownership under a perpetual lease dated June 07, 1974 executed in his favour by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. When he purchased the property on perpetual lease-hold basis, it consisted of only the ground floor. He constructed two floors above and sold them during his life time. He lived in the ground floor with his family comprising his wife Ms. Surinder Kaur and two sons named Raman Pal Singh and Gurpreet Singh and a daughter Sherry, who upon her marriage left the house.
2. Gurpreet Singh was married to Navneet Arora on May 15, 2001 and out of the wedlock a daughter was born to the couple on March 17, 2008. On a date not disclosed, Raman Pal Singh got married to Ms.Neetu. The family comprising Harpal Singh Arora, his wife Surinder Kaur, two sons Gurpreet Singh and Raman Pal Singh together with their wives resided together as one family, with one kitchen, on the ground floor of B-44, Vishal Enclave.
3. Harpal Singh died intestate on June 01, 2008 and was survived by his wife, two sons and daughter as the legal heirs. Each one inherited one forth share in the said property and other assets of the deceased Harpal Singh. On June 13, 2008 the three siblings executed a relinquishment deed in favour of their mother and thus in the official records Surinder Kaur became the owner of the property.
4. Tragedy struck the family when Gurpreet Singh died on May 20, 2012. Unfortunately, difference cropped between Surinder Kaur and her daughter-in-law Navneet Arora wife of Gurpreet Singh. Navneet Arora and her daughter were occupying one out of the three bed rooms on the ground floor. One room was occupied by Raman Pal Singh and Neetu Arora. The third by Surinder Kaur.
5. Surinder Kaur filed a suit for permanent and mandatory injunction against Navneet Arora, Raman Pal Singh and his wife Neetu Arora. It related to the ground floor.
6. As was to be expected, Raman Pal Singh and Neetu Arora, obviously collusively, informed the Court that they would move out of the room occupied by them, but we take on record the fact that the two continue to reside on the ground floor of the property.
7. Navneet Arora filed a written statement pointing out that she had filed a civil suit registered as number 203/2013 challenging the relinquishment deed executed by her husband in favour of Surinder Kaur which was pending before the Civil Judge, Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi. She pleaded that on the death of her husband his share would devolve upon her and her daughter and since the relinquishment deed was questioned by her, the suit filed by Surinder Kaur should await the decision in the suit filed by her. She claimed that she was living in her matrimonial house in her own right.
8. The learned Single Judge has held, vide impugned order dated March 21, 2014, that since Surinder Kaur was the owner of the property, it would not be a ‘shared house hold’ of Navneet Arora in view of the law declared by the Supreme Court in the decision reported as (2007) 3 SCC 169 S.R. Batra & Anr. vs. Taruna Batra. The learned Single Judge has noted a few other decisions wherein it was held that an estranged daughter-in-law has no right to stay in the property owned by either her mother-in-law or her father-in-law. The learned Single Judge has held that at the old age of 60 Surinder Kaur would be entitled to a peaceful life.
9. The predecessor Division Bench before which the appeal came up for preliminary admission on April 30, 2014, having regard to the nature of the dispute, referred the parties to mediation. The mediation failed. The appeal was assigned to this Bench as per roster on August 14, 2014, and when it was brought to our notice that the parties are involved in multifarious litigation and two valuable assets being a shop at Jwala Heri market and a factory at Bahadurgarh, Haryana were lying locked, we
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