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1928 Supreme(Mad) 60

IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADRAS
Krishnan, J.
Kypreth Moithiyan Kutty
Versus
Natukandy Puthiapurayil Mammali ...
Decided On : 3 February, 1928

The main legal point established in the judgment is that under Marumakkatayam Law, a tavazhi cannot be created by the act of parties, and the incidents of tarwad property only attach to a gift made to all the members of the tavazhi, including children by other husbands in existence at the time.

Headnote:

Marumakkatayam Law - Property Gift - Acts and Sections: Kunhacha Umma v. Kutti Mammi Hajee (1892) I.L.R. 16 Mad. 201 : 2 M.L.J. 226 (F.B.), Chakkra Kannan v. Kunhi Pokker (1915) I.L.R. 39 Mad. 317 : 29 M.L.J. 481 (F.B.), Imbichi Beevi Umma v. Raman Nair (1919) I.L.R. 42 Mad. 869 : 37 M.L.J. 220 - The court discussed the incidents of tarwad property and the constitution of a tavazhi under Marumakkatayam Law, emphasizing the recognition of a tavazhi as a legal entity and the principle that a tavazhi consists of a female and her descendants in the female line. The judgment highlighted that a tavazhi cannot be created by the act of parties and that the incidents of tarwad property only attach to a gift made to all the members of the tavazhi, including children by other husbands in existence at the time.

Fact of the Case:

The case involved a question of whether a gift of property made by a follower of Marumakkatayam Law to his wife and children, with the wife having children from a former husband, should be subject to the incidents of tarwad property or only as ordinary donees entitled to an equal share as tenants-in-common.

Finding of the Court:

The court analyzed the recognition of a tavazhi as a legal entity under Marumakkatayam Law and emphasized that a tavazhi cannot be created by the act of parties. The court concluded that the incidents of tarwad property only attach to a gift made to all the members of the tavazhi, including children by other husbands in existence at the time.

Issues: The key issue was whether the donees take the property with the incidents of tarwad property or only as ordinary donees entitled to an equal share as tenants-in-common.

Ratio Decidendi: The court held that a tavazhi cannot be created by the act of parties and that the incidents of tarwad property only attach to a gift made to all the members of the tavazhi, including children by other husbands in existence at the time.

Final Decision: The court set aside the judgment of the lower courts and passed a preliminary decree in favor of the plaintiff.

JUDGMENT

Krishnan, J.

1. The question argued in this second appeal is whether when a follower of Marumakkatayam Law makes a gift of property to his wife and children, she having already children living by a former husband, the donees take the property with the incidents of tarwad property such as impartibility attached to it or only as ordinary donees each entitled to an equal share as tenants-in-common.

2. Three cases have been cited to us as having a bearing on the question Kunhacha Umma v. Kutti Mammi Hajee (1892) I.L.R. 16 Mad. 201 : 2 M.L.J. 226 (F.B.), Chakkra Kannan v. Kunhi Pokker (1915) I.L.R. 39 Mad. 317 : 29 M.L.J. 481 (F.B.) and Imbichi Beevi Umma v. Raman Nair (1919) I.L.R. 42 Mad. 869 : 37 M.L.J. 220. It was laid down in Kunhacha Umma v. Kutti Mammi Hajee (1892) I.L.R. 16 Mad. 201 : 2 M.L.J. 226 (F.B.) that when a Marumakkatayam mans property is given to his wife and children without any expression of intention how they were to enjoy it, they must be held to have taken it with the incidents of property held by a tarwad. It will be rioted that in this case the wife and children constituted a tavazhi consisting of a woman and all her children and there was not the complication of some of her children not being included as in the present case. The gift was to a subsisting tavazhi and it was held following the principle laid down by the Privy Council in Sreemutty Sourjemoney Dossee v. Denobundoo Mullick (1857) 6 M.I.A. 526 and Mahomed Shumsool v. Sheewukram (1874) L.R. 2 I.A. 7 (P.C.) that in considering a mans intention his ordinary notions regarding property should be borne in mind. This case was accepted and followed in a number of cases see Koroth Amman Kutti v. Appu Nambiar (1906) I.L.R. 29 Mad 322, Pattathenuvath Pathumma v. Mannamkunniyil Abdulla Haji (1907) I.L.R. 31 Mad. 228 : 18 (P.C.), Kunhamina v. Kunhambi (1908) I.L.R. 32 Mad. 315, Katankandi Koma v. Siva Sankaran (1909) 20 M.L.J. 134, Chakkantavida Chakkan Abdulla v. Thazhath Cheekkootti (1910) I.L.R. 34 Mad. 245 : 20 M.L.J. 368, Ummanga v. Appadorai Pattar (1910) I.L.R. 34 Mad. 387 : 20 M.L.J. 218 and in spite of the adverse criticism of Sir Sankaran Nair, J., and of the difficulties pointed out by him in the application of the principle laid down in it, in his order of reference, it was affirmed and followed again in the Full Bench decision in Chakkra Kannan v. Kunhi Pokker (1915) I.L.R. 39 Mad. 317 : 29 M.L.J. 481 (F.B.). We must, therefore, accept it as good law. But the question we have to decide in the present case is essentially different, it being in reality whether a tavazhi can be constituted by a woman and some of her children only, they being children of one father, others being excluded and whether such a group of members is a recognised group in Malabar Law entitled to hold property with the special incidents of tarwad property. A tavazhi as known to Malabar Law has no doubt been recognized as having such a right; Chakkra Kannan v. Kunhi Pokker (1915) I.L.R. 39 Mad. 317 : 29 M.L.J. 481 (F.B.) is an authority for it. As pointed out by Sriniyasa Aiyangar, J., in that case it is not the giving of property by a person to his wife and children that constitutes a tavazhi but there being a tavazhi already they take the property with the incidents of tarwad property. Are we then to extend the principle to the case of a group of persons consisting of a woman and her children by one husband only when she has other children who are not included? A tavazhi has been always understood as consisting of a mother and all her children and descendants in the female line. See Raman Menon v. Raman Menon (1900) L.R. 27 I.A. 231 : I.L.R. 24 Mad. 73 at 76 : 10 M.L.J. 245 (P.C.), Kenath Puthen Vittil Tavazhi v. Narayanan (1904) I.L.R. 28 Mad 182 : 14 M.L.J. 415 (F.B.) and Krishnan v. Damodaran (1912) I.L.R. 38 Mad. 48 at 53 : 24 M.L.J. 240 (F.B.). It is such a tavazhi that forms a corporate unit capable of holding property as such. Srinivasa Aiyangar, J., says in Cha










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