IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADRAS
Somayya, J.
Nallakumara Goundan
Versus
Pappayi Ammal and Anr.
Decided On : 12.10.1944
lis pendens - Maintenance suit - Transfer of Property Act, Section 52
Fact of the Case:
The widow of Chinnappa Goundan filed a suit for maintenance against the father of her deceased husband. The suit properties were sold to the second defendant, leading to a dispute over the right to execute the maintenance decree against the properties.
Finding of the Court:
The court held that the sale of the properties was affected by the doctrine of lis pendens, and the widow had the right to realize her maintenance decree from the suit properties.
Issues: Validity of the sale under the doctrine of lis pendens, right to execute maintenance decree against the properties, and the mode of challenging the execution order.
Ratio Decidendi: The court interpreted Section 52 of the Transfer of Property Act, holding that the doctrine of lis pendens applies from the date of the application for amendment in a suit, and an alienation made by a party subsequent to the disposal of the suit and before the presentation of an appeal is affected by lis pendens.
Final Decision: The second appeal was dismissed, affirming the widow's right to execute the maintenance decree against the suit properties.
Somayya, J.
1. The second defendant in a suit for maintenance brought by the plaintiff first respondent is the appellant in this Court. The first respondent is the widow of one Chinnappa Goundan. Chinnappa Goundan and Muthuswami were brothers. They became divided under a partition deed Ex. D in the year 1919. At that time, their mother and grandmother and an aunt of theirs were alive. The properties now in suit and a house were set apart for the maintenance of the three ladies to be enjoyed by them for their life. Chinnappa, the plaintiffs husband, executed a will in favour of his brother Muthuswami. He directed the legatee to pay Rs. 17 to 20 per month to his wife the plaintiff for her maintenance. The will declared that if the legatee failed to pay the maintenance to his wife, she would have a right to recover it from the propsrties of Chinnappa Goundan which remained in the hands of the first defendants father after paying his debts. It also provided that the land that was set apart at the time of the partition for the maintenance of his mother and aunt should go to the legatee after their life. The plaintiff filed a suit in forma pauperis on the 10th March, 1932, for maintenance against the first defendants father Muthuswami claiming a charge over six items of properties. These items did not include the three items which had been set apart for the maintenance of the three ladies and which form the subject-matter of the present suit. By a subsequent amendment, the widow was allowed to include the three items now in question and to claim a charge over these items as well. The application for amendment I.A. No. 386 of 1932 to include the additional items was filed on the 22nd April, 1932, and it was ordered on the 13th August, 1932. Muthuswami died in the beginning of May, 1932, and I.A. No. 421 of 1932 was filed on the 11th July, 1932, to implead his son as his legal representative and it was ordered on the 6th August, 1932. After the death of Muthuswami and before the application for adding his son as the legal representative, his son, the present first defendant, sold the three additional items and some other properties to the second defendant for Rs. 4,750 by a sale deed dated the 9th June, 1932. Ultimately the suit ended in a decree by which maintenance was decreed and made a charge on the items purchased by the second defendant. When the plaintiff attempted to execute her decree, she was met with opposition and her execution petition was dismissed. Then she filed the suit out of which this second appeal arises for a declaration that she has a right to execute the decree and to recover her decree amount from out of the suit properties. The suit was at first dismissed by the District Judge on appeal on the ground that the maintenance decree was a charge decree, that no claim petition lay in execution of such a decree as there was no attachment and that the order refusing execution against the properties could not be challenged by a suit under Order 21, Rule 63. The trial Court had upheld the plaintiffs right to execute the decree against the properties but on appeal the decree was reversed and the suit dismissed on the ground mentioned above. The matter came before me in S.A. Nos. 124, 180 and 518 of 1941. I held that the suit might be treated as one for a declaration of the plaintiffs right to sell the properties in the hands of the second defendant in execution of her prior decree. The plaintiff had preferred one second appeal and the first and second defendants had each preferred a second appeal. All of them attacked the judgment of the District Court and all the appeals were allowed and the appeal was remanded for disposal on the question whether the plaintiff had a right to proceed against the suit properties in realisation of the amount due to her under the prior decree. This time it came before another District Judge and he upheld the right of the plaintiff to realise her decree amount from the half share of
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