Gujarat High Court
Judgename :P.N.BHAGWATI
KRISHNAKANT MAGANBHAI - Appellant
Versus
STATE - Respondent
Civil Revision 920 of 1930
Decided On : 10/14/1960
Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act 1955 - Section 8 – Karta – Undivided Hindu Family property - Petitioner is Manager and Karta of joint and undivided Hindu family consisting of himself his wife and four children who are all minors - Out four children two are sons and two are daughters - Said immovable property belongs to said joint and undivided Hindu family and each of minor sons has an undivided share in said immovable property - On or petitioner as Manager as Karta of the said joint and undivided Hindu family entered into an agreement for sale of said immovable property for Since said immovable property is joint family property and minor sons has an interest in said immovable property petitioner made an application to District Judge for permission to sell said immovable properly on behalf of minor sons Act said application was made by petitioner as natural guardian of minor sons and it was pointed out in said application that proposed sale of said immovable property was for an evident advantage minor sons - said application was heard by District Judge and by an District Judge granted permission to petitioner to sell said immovable property on behalf of minor sons Act but imposed a condition that petitioner should execute a bond with one surety for to secure interest of the minor sons in said immovable property - Held, deals with powers of a natural guardian in relation to minors estate - It empowers natural guardian to do all acts which are necessary or reasonable and proper for benefit of minor or for realization protection or benefit of minors estate but lays down that natural guardian cannot in any case bind minor by a personal covenant. It also prescribes certain restrictions on powers of natural guardian and provides that natural guardian shall not without previous permission of Court; mortgage or charge or transfer by sale gift exchange or otherwise any part of immovable property of minor or lease any part of such property for a term exceeding five years or for a term extending more than one year beyond date on which minor will attain majority - Now term natural guardian has been defined of mean any of guardians mentioned in In order therefore to determine scope and coverage one must turn to provisions and see who are natural guardians mentioned in natural guardian whose powers are prescribed by are thus natural guardians in respect of minors property other than his undivided in joint family property and restrictions laid down in that section also relate to same natural guardians - Entire scheme of Act which have in preceding paragraph shows that concept of a guardian in respect undivided interest of a minor in joint family property is excluded from scope and purview Act does not contemplate and deal with any guardians in respect of undivided interest of a minor in joint family property - Only with powers and restrictions on powers of natural guardians in respect of minors property other than undivided interest in joint family property words minors estate and immovable property of minor must be construed so as to mean minors estate or immovable property other than his undivided interest in joint family property - It is a general rule of construction that Court must not only look at words but must also look at collocation and object of such words relating to such matter and interpret meaning according to what would appear to be meaning intended to be conveyed by use of words circumstances - Application allowed
( 1 ) THIS is a Civil Revision Application directed against an order passed by the District Judge Surat granting sanction to the petitioner to sell certain immovable property belonging to the joint and undivided Hindu family consisting of himself his wile and four children who are all minors. The order has been made by the learned District Judge under section 8 of the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act 1955 (hereinafter referred to as the Act ). The order is substantially in favour of the petitioner inasmuch as the petitioner has been granted sanction to sell the said immovable property but under the order certain condition has been imposed and it is against that condition that the petitioner complains in this Civil Revision Application
( 2 ) THE facts giving rise to this Civil Revision Application may be briefly stated as follows :the petitioner is the Manager and Karta of the joint and undivided Hindu family consisting of himself his wife and four children who are all minors. Out of the four children two are sons and two are daughters. The said immovable property belongs to the said joint and undivided Hindu family and each of the minor sons has an undivided share in the said immovable property. On or about 15/03/1960 the petitioner as Manager as Karta of the said joint and undivided Hindu family entered into an agreement for sale of the said immovable property for the price of Rs 39 251 Since the said immovable property is joint family property and the minor sons has an interest in the said immovable property the petitioner made an application to the District Judge Surat for permission to sell the said immovable properly on behalf of the minor sons under section 8 of the Act The said application was made by the petitioner as the natural guardian of the minor sons and it was pointed out in the said application that the proposed sale of the said immovable property was for an evident advantage to the minor sons. The said application was heard by the learned District Judge and by an order dated 30/04/1960 the learned District Judge granted permission to the petitioner to sell the said immovable property on behalf of the minor sons under section 8 of the Act but imposed a condition that the petitioner should execute a bond with one surety for Rs. 20 0 to secure the interest of the minor sons in the said immovable property. The petitioner found that he was not in a position to comply with the said condition as he knew no one in Surat who was ready and willing to be a surety for Rs. 20 0 He therefore filed this Civil Revision Application against the order of the learned District Judge complaining against the imposition of the said condition.
( 3 ) WHEN this Civil Revision Application came up before me for hearing and my attention was drawn to the relevant sections of the Act I felt prima facie that the learned District Judge had no jurisdiction to make any order under section 8 of the Act in respect of the undivided share of a minor in joint family property. I therefore asked Mr. B. J. Shelat the learned advocate on behalf of the petitioner to satisfy me whether the learned District Judge had jurisdiction to make the order dated 30/04/1960 under section 8 of the Act. If the said order was without jurisdiction the petitioner was not entitled do maintain this Civil Revision application because this Civil Revision Application proceeded on the basis that the learned District Judge had jurisdiction to make the said order but that he had acted illegally or with material irregularity in imposing the condition regarding the execution of a bond for Rs. 20 0 with one surety. What the petitioner wanted in this Civil Revision Application was the removal of the said condition and that could be granted only if the said order was otherwise within the jurisdiction of the learned District Judge to make. In order to dispose of this Civil Revision Application it was therefore necessary for me to decide whether the learned District
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