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1999 Supreme(P&H) 1347

PUNJAB & HARYANA HIGH COURT
N.K.Agrawal, J.
Sandeep Kumar
Versus
Mohan Lal
Civil Revision No. 4150 of 1999,
Decided On : NOVEMBER 3, 1999

A co-sharer cannot be prevented from using the joint land unless and until partition is effected.

Headnote:

INJUNCTION - CO-SHARER - ORDER 39 RULES 1 AND 2, CIVIL PROCEDURE CODE - SUMMARY

Fact of the Case:

Plaintiff filed a suit for permanent injunction restraining the defendant from interfering with his possession on the property. Plaintiff purchased half share in the land from his father, who was a co-sharer. The defendant is the brother of the vendor. There is no evidence to show partition of the joint land.

Finding of the Court:

The appellate Court was right in setting aside the temporary injunction granted by the trial Court. The plaintiff was not entitled to the temporary injunction as he was not in exclusive possession of the entire land. He admittedly purchased only half share in the land from his father who is a co-sharer. The land has not yet been partitioned between the vendor, Ram Murti and the defendant, Mohal Lal.

Issues: Whether the plaintiff was entitled to the temporary injunction.

Ratio Decidendi: A co-owner has a right to use the joint property in a manner not inconsistent with the right of other co-owners. The defendant being a co-sharer cannot be prevented from using the joint land. No material has been brought on the record to show that the plaintiff is in exclusive possession of the entire land.

Final Decision: Revision petition dismissed.

Judgment

N.K.Agrawal, J.

1. This is a revision petition by the plaintiff against the order dated July 23, 1999 passed by the Additional District Judge, Ludhiana, whereby the temporary injunction granted by the trial Court under Order 39 Rules 1 and 2, Civil Procedure Code, in favour of the plaintiff has been set aside.

2. Plaintiff filed a civil suit for permanent injunction restraining the defendant from interfering with the plaintiffs possession on the property mentioned in the suit. The case of the plaintiff as set up in his plaint is that he has purchased the land measuring 1 kanal 8 marlas by a registered sale deed dated August 5, 1997 from his father, Ram Murti. Mutation has been sanction in his favour. The defendants house is situated to the east of the plaintiffs property. Plaintiff stated that he is in possession of the property but the defendant is trying to oust him from the house in question. He further stated that he has been paying the house tax and also the electricity and water charges. Copies of the receipts were produced. His father, Ram Murti, had sold his half share in the land to him for Rs. 37,500/-. Ram Murti and the defendant, Mohan Lal, are brothers and co-sharers. The house tax and the electricity and water bills had been issued in the name of Ram Murti. It showed that Ram Murti, the vendor, was in possession.

3. Learned counsel for the plaintiff has argued that the payment of house tax as well as the electricity and water chargers by the vendor, Ram Murti, showed, prima-facie, that he was in exclusive possession of the land. He sold half share of the land in the capacity of a co-sharer. The purchaser is, therefore, entitled to retain possession over the entire land inasmuch as he has stepped into the shoes of a co-sharer.

4. Learned counsel for the defendant has, on the other hand, contended that the defendant is in exclusive possession of the entire property. He is running a flour mill (Atta Chakki). Boundary wall and the shops have been constructed by the defendant. He alongwith his brother Ram Murti was in possession of the land as joint owners and it has been shown as such in the Jamabandi for the year 1991-92. Ram Murti had sold half share in the land to his son, Sandeep Kumar, the plaintiff. Since Ram Murti had sold only one half share in the joint property, there was no transfer of any specific portion of the land. No partition has taken place so far. The mere fact that the house tax and also the electricity and water charges have been paid by Ram Murti would not establish that Ram Murti was in exclusive possession of the entire land. Reliance is placed on a decision of this Court in M/s R.C. Sood Co. v. M/s R. Kant and Company and Anr., (1996-2)113 P.L.R. 559, wherein it has been held that the plaintiff is not entitled to the grant of injunction where the suit is brought by him as a co-owner for restraining the defendants from raising construction and selling plots out of the undivided property. No steps were taken by the plaintiff to get the land partitioned. The defendants were in exclusive possession of the specified land.

5. Learned counsel for the plaintiff has placed reliance on a decision of this Court in Kamla Kumar Thapar v. Vinod Kumar Thapar, (1996-2)113 P.L.R. 64 wherein it has been held that the powers of the appellate Court are limited for interference with an order passed by the trial Court under Order 39 Rules 1 and 2. The appellate Court cannot upset an order passed by the trial Court without holding that the trial Court has erred in recording findings on the issues of prime-facie case, balance of convenience and irreparable loss. Similar view has again been expressed in Man Singh and Anr. v. H.S. Kohli and Ors., (1997-1)115 P.L.R. 643 and also in Bhupinder Singh v. Rana Kamarpal Singh, (1997-2)116 P.L.R. 513.

6. Reliance is also placed by the learned counsel for the plaintiff on a decision of the Supreme Court in M/s Gujarat Bottling Co. Ltd and Ors. v. The Coca Cola Co. and






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