A gift made by a Muslim donor, even to a Hindu donee, is subject to the Muslim law relating to revocation of gifts.

( 1 ) THIS is a defendants appeal arising out of suit No. 514 of 1945 of the Court of Munsif, East, allahabad. The suit was filed by three persons Hamid Ali, Barkat Ullah and Nawab Hasan. There are two defendants in the suit, Someshwar and his father Kallu.

( 2 ) WHAT happened was that Hamid Ali, a Shia muslim, made a gift of the property in question in favour of Someshwar on 21st April, 1945. Later he executed a sale deed in respect of this very property along with some other on 6th September, 1945, in favour of Barkat Ullah and Nawab hasan, plaintiffs 2 and 3 in the suit. Someshwar filed a suit for preemption on the basis of that sale deed in respect of property other than the one covered by the gift deed, that suit for pre-emption being suit No. 470 of 1946; and Hamid Ali, Barkat A!i and Nawab Hasan filed this suit, No. 514 of 1945, for the cancellation of the gift deed on the ground that it was revoked by hamid Ali and for possession over the property, in case the plaintiffs were found to be out of possession.

( 3 ) AS this suit filed by Hamid Ali and others was decreed by the trial Court, the suit for pre-emption was dismissed. An appeal was filed against the dismissal of that suit, but it became infructuous after the abolition of zamindari in this State, and we are not, therefore, concerned with that dispute between the parties any more.

( 4 ) IT was contended on behalf of the appellant before the trial Court as wefl as in first appeal that the gift in his favour was a hiba-bil-iwaz and was not, therefore, liable to be revoked. It was further contended that the appellant being a Hindu the muslim law relating to revocation of a gift did not apply to him, and that the gift-made in his favour by the respondents couid not be revoked. These were the two points along with two other minor points to which reference will be made later, which were pressed in this appeal and no reference may, therefore, be made to the other allegations of the parties.

( 5 ) IT has been held by the Courts below that the gift in favour of Someshwar was not a hiba-bil-iwaz, but a hiba, pure and simple, and it has further been held that it will be the muslim law applicable to the revocation of such gift, which will be applicable to the facts of the case, even though the donee is a Hindu; and it was on the basis of these findings that the suit was decreed by the trial Court, and that decree was upheld in first appeal.

( 6 ) HAMID Ali died during the pendency of the suit, and one of the points raised during the hearing of this appeal was if the right to revoke the gift survived. The parties were agreed that the donor Hamid Ali, was a Shia; and, therefore, to the extent the Shia law relating to gifts differs from the general Mohammadan Law, it will be that law which will apply. Under the Shia law a donor may revoke a gift by mere declaration without any proceedings in Court, and if, therefore, the gift in favour of the appellant was a mere hiba and not hiba-bil-iwaz, Hamid Ali was entitled to revoke it by mere declaration and in that view this contention has no force. The appellants contention was that the death of Hamid Ali during the pendency of the suit, i. e. , before the suit was decreed, would make the suit for revocation ineffective. Since the donor was a Shia, 3 decree for revocation of the gift was not necessary. Mere declaration on his part that the gift was revoked is enough.

( 7 ) THE question, however, is whether the gift was a hiba or a hiba-bil-iwaz. It purports to have been made in favour of Someshwar in consideration of the services rendered by his father Kallu kachhi for a period of 25 or 30 years in respect of tahsil wasul (collection work ). Hamid Ali said in the gift deed that he was very much pleased witn the discharge of duties by him and wanted to compensate him for it. The gift was, therefore, made in consideration of the faithful discharge of duties by Someshwars father during a period of 25 or 30 years. There is