SupremeToday Landscape Ad
Back
Next
Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation
Listen Audio Icon Pause Audio Icon
judgment-img

2017 Supreme(P&H) 2783

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA
Before
Hon’ble Mr. Justice Anil Kshetarpal
RSA No.3695 of 2017 (O&M)
Swaranjit Kaur & Ors.
v.
Kashmir Singh
{Decided on 06/10/2017}

Advocates:
For the Appellants:Mr. Som Nath Saini, Advocate.
For the Respondent:Mr. Vijay Lath, Advocate.

Headnote:(A) Specific Relief Act, 1963 S.34 – Suit for declaration – Through power of attorney holder – Owner of property is a NRI – Contention that owner has not appeared in witness box himself and was represented by attorney holder so suit is liable to be dismissed – Declined – Held; appellant failed to show any prejudice caused by non-appearance of plaintiff – No material question brought to notice which was put to his attorney and not answered – No adverse inference to be drawn.

       (B) Civil Procedure Code, 1908, O.6 R.2 – Pleadings – Contention that findings of court that parties are in fiduciary relationship is not pleaded – Declined – Held; O.6 R.2 prescribes pleadings to be in concise form – Facts have to be stated, evidence is not required to be pleaded – Plaintiff disclosed the relationship – Pleadings held to be sufficient – Appeal dismissed.

JUDGMENT

Mr. Anil Kshetarpal, J.:- Defendants are in regular second appeal against concurrent findings of fact arrived at by the Courts below.

2. Here is a case where property owned by a Non Resident Indian is being usurped by the near relatives.

3. Kashmir Singh, the plaintiff, was owner of the property in dispute. In good faith, he executed a General Power of Attorney in favour of Jit Singh, his elder brother. Jit Singh on the basis of this attorney first of all transferred the property in favour of son of the plaintiff i.e. defendant no.2. Thereafter, Jit Singh again got a General Power of Attorney from Kulbir Singh, son of the plaintiff, with respect to the same property and transferred it in favour of his own wife i.e. defendant no.3.

4. Learned trial Court has noticed that when Jit Singh appeared in the witness box as DW1, he admitted that sale deed in favour of Kulbir Singh was without payment of any actual consideration, although, it was mentioned in the sale deed that it is for a consideration of Rs.7,00,000/-. Jit Singh further admitted that Kashmir Singh is residing in England and has solemnized second marriage and his relationship with his son Kulbir Singh are not cordial.

5. Both the Courts after appreciating the evidence available on the file have recorded concurrent findings of fact that General Power of Attorney has been misused and the defendants in collusion with each other has usurped the property of the plaintiff.

6. Learned counsel for the appellant has submitted as under:-

(i) the finding of the Court that parties are in fiduciary relationship is not pleaded;

(ii) plaintiff has not appeared in the witness box, he has only appeared through attorney, therefore, adverse inference should be drawn against the plaintiff;

(iii) the suit is beyond limitation;

(iv) execution of the attorney in favour of Baldev Singh through whom the suit was filed is not proved;

(v) plaintiff has not sought possession, therefore, the suit is not maintainable.

7. I have considered the submissions of learned counsel for the parties and with their able assistance gone through the judgments passed by the Courts below and the photo copy of the record produced by them.

(i) First argument of learned counsel for the appellant is that the finding of the Court that the parties are in fiduciary relationship is not pleaded.

8. As per Order 6 Rule 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the pleadings have to be in a concise form. Facts have to be stated, evidence is not required to be pleaded. Plaintiff while filing a suit had disclosed the relationship and had also challenged the sale deeds dated 31.10.2007 and 07.03.2011. It was further pleaded that defendant no.1 has grabbed property by illegal means. In my considered opinion, such pleadings are sufficient.

(ii) Second submission of learned counsel for the appellant is that the plaintiff himself has not appeared in the witness box, he has appeared through attorney.

9. In the present case, counsel for the appellant has failed to show that as to what prejudice has been caused to the defendants on account of non-appearance of the plaintiff. Counsel has not brought to my notice any material question which may have been put to the attorney and he has failed to reply. The adverse inference can only be drawn if attorney is unable to answer the question put forth. In these circumstances, I do not find any force in the second submission of learned counsel for the appellant.

(iii) Next submission of learned counsel is that the suit is beyond limitation.

10. The Courts have examined this issue. It has been noticed that the plaintiff is residing out of India. Courts have noticed that since the plaintiff is not physically present in India and is in possession through Jit Singh, the elder brother and the plaintiff has specifically pleaded that he came to know of the alleged sale consideration only on 07.03.2011 when he got the enquiries conducted. Therefore, the suit filed by the plaintiff cannot be held to be








Click Here to Read the rest of this document

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
SupremeToday Portrait Ad
supreme today icon
logo-black

An indispensable Tool for Legal Professionals, Endorsed by Various High Court and Judicial Officers

Please visit our Training & Support
Center or Contact Us for assistance

qr

Scan Me!

India’s Legal research and Law Firm App, Download now!

For Daily Legal Updates, Join us on :

whatsapp-icon Back to top