The court ruled that a plaintiff’s limited interest in property, dictated by the will, cannot be construed as absolute ownership; undue influence invalidates share transfers.

JUDGMENT

Amit Bansal, J.

I.A. 14829/2021(O-XXXIX R-1 & 2 of CPC), I.A. 15075/2021(of the defendant no.16 u/O-XXXIX R-4 of CPC), I.A. 15080/2021 (of the defendant no.13 u/O-XXXIX R-4 of CPC), I.A. 15081/2021(of the defendant no.4 u/O-XXXIX R-4 of CPC)

1. By way of the present judgment, I shall dispose of the application filed on behalf of the plaintiff under Order XXXIX Rules 1 and 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC) and the applications filed on behalf of the defendants no. 4, 13 and 16 respectively under Order XXXIX Rule 4 of the CPC seeking vacation of the ex parte ad interim injunction granted vide order dated 12th November, 2021 passed by this Court.

PROCEEDINGS IN THE SUIT

2. The present suit has been filed for declaration, permanent and mandatory injunction, rendition of account and cancellation in respect of the shares and interest owned by late Sh. Devinder Singh Chaudhry and the plaintiff in the various defendant companies/Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs).

3. This Court, vide an ex parte ad interim order dated 12th November, 2021 had directed that status quo be maintained qua disposing of properties as described in Schedule A to the plaint, on the basis of shares earlier held by the plaintiff and her husband, late Sh. Devinder Singh Chaudhry, that were transferred to the defendants no.4 and 9.

4. Thereafter, submissions in the captioned applications were heard on 28th January, 2022, 14th February, 2022, 23rd February, 2022, 14th March, 2022, 25th March, 2022, 05th April, 2022, 28th April, 2022, 06th May, 2022, 11th May, 2022 and 25th May, 2022. Both sides have also handed over voluminous compilations of documents/judgments.

PLEADINGS IN THE PLAINT

5. It has been pleaded in the plaint that:

(i) The plaintiff was married to late Sh. Devinder Singh Chaudhry. They had three sons, namely Verinder Singh (defendant no.1), Deepinder Singh (defendant no.2) and Bhupen Phougaat (defendant no.3). Sunaina Singh (defendant no.4), Shruti Manav Sharma (defendant no.5) and Karandeep Singh (defendant no.6) are the children of the defendant no. 2. Arjun Singh (defendant no.11) and Ankur Singh (defendant no.12) are the children of the defendant no.1. Brahm Dev Phougaat (defendant no.7) and Kritika Phougaat (defendant no.8) are the children of the defendant no.3. Ajay Kadyan (defendant no.9) is the husband of the defendant no.4.

(ii) The defendants no.13, 15, and 16 are the companies incorporated by the late Sh. Devinder Singh Chaudhry, the defendants no.14 and 17 are LLPs set up by the late Sh. Devinder Singh Chaudhry, and the defendant no.19 is a company incorporated by the defendants no.4 and 9. Defendant no.18 is the depositary of shares, which transferred the shares of Industrial Cables (India) Ltd. (defendant no.13 company) in favour of the defendants no.4 and 9.

(iii) Late Sh. Devinder Singh Chaudhry and his wife, the plaintiff set up various companies/LLPs, including the defendants no. 13 to 17, which were closely held by them. Late Sh. Devinder Singh Chaudhry and the plaintiff were the directors/partners in the said companies/LLPs and held majority shareholding/interest, either directly or indirectly. All the aforesaid companies/LLPs held various properties, as described in the Schedule annexed to the plaint. The majority of the properties were held by the defendant no.13 company.

(iv) Sh. Devinder Singh Chaudhry passed away on 5th December, 2009 leaving behind his wife and other legal heirs. At the time of his death, almost the entire shareholding in the various companies including the defendant no.13 company were in the name of late Sh. Devinder Singh Chaudhry and the plaintiff.

(v) The shareholding pattern in the defendants no.13 to 17 at the time of death of late Sh. Devinder Singh Chaudhry was as follows:

Table I