SIDROMANI & ORS. versus HEM KUMAR & ORS.

SIDROMANI & ORS.

HEM KUMAR & ORS.

April 4, 1968

[J. C. SHAH AND V. RAMASWAMY, JJ.j

I11dilln Registration Act (16 of 1908), s. 11(1)(b)-Partition of pro-pem in specific shores-Deed not registered-Admissibility.

Pleadings-Plea of.acquiescence-Not raised in pleadings-Cannot be allowed to be set up subsequently.

Hindu Law-Agharla 'Caste-Custom of lethansi allowing larger share of family property to eldest son--Outmoded custom loses legal force. Indian Evidence Act (I of 1812), s. 91-Bar on oral evidence.

died in 1940 leaving certain agricultural land as well as house pro-perty. He bad two children by his first wife the elder of whom was mpoodent no. 1. By his· second wife, appellant no. 2, he had son, appellant no. 1. The family belon~d to the Agharia caste and wns aovemed by the Benares School of Hindu Law. In 1956 Appellants I and 2 liled suit in the Court of the Qvi! Judge Raigarh (now m Madhya Pta· deob) claiming that they were entitled to ~th share each in D's estate and that there should be partition by metes and bounds of joint family : property. According to their pleadings Ex.D.4 dated December 27, 1943 by which appellant no. 2 accepted lesser share of the properties than was due to her and her son was executed as result of coercion by res-E pondent no. I. The latter along with other respondents contested the suit, relying on Ex.D-4. The trial court, the· first appellate court, as well as the High Court decided against the appellants who by special leave came to this Court. The que.tions that fell for consideration were : (i) whether Ex.04 was admissible in evidence without having been register· ed; (ii) whether Appellant No. 2 was precluded from demanding her share because her signing of Ex. D4 showed acqui...,eme on her part; (ill) whether higher share far respondent no. 1 was justified because of tho custom of Jethansi in the Agbaria caste according to which the eldest son was entitled lo larger share than others; (iv) whether it was open to tho respondents to give oral evidence of actual partition subse· quent to the execution of Ex.04.

HELD: (i) Tho recitals in Ex.D.4 showed that there was allotment of specific properties to individual co-parceners and tho document there-fore fell within tho mischief of s. 17(1J(b) of the Registration Act .. It followed that Ex.D-4 was not, admissible in evidence to prove tho title of any of the. C01'&fl'Cner& to any particular property or to prove that any particular progerty had ceased to be joint property. The document was only admDsiblo tO prove an· intention on the part of the co-parceners. to becnme divided in status. [643 F-HJ

Nanni Bal v. Gita Bal, [1959] S.C.R. 479, relied on.

(ii) There was no pleadin~ on behalf of the respondents and no i!sue framed to the effect that by signing Ex.D-4 appellant no. 2 had acquiese· ed in the division of properties among her sons without claiming the share to which she was entitled und"I' the Mitaksbara Law of the Benares

School. The respondents therefore could not be allowed to set up the plea of acquiescence by appellant no. 2 (644 El

(iii) The d0¥lfine of "Jethansi" or "Jeshtbhagam" is now obsolete and unen'forceable. The principle of Hindu Law is equality of division and the exceptions to that rule, have almost, if not altogether disappeared. All between br_others or other relations absolute equality is now the in-varia·ble rule in all the State5, unless, perhaps, where some special family custom to the contrary is made out. The re5pondents had failed to prove ihat such custom was prevalent in the caste di Agharias to which the parties belonged. (644 F-0; 645 F·G; 646 A-F]

M. Y. A. A. Nachiappa Chettiar v. M. Y. A. A. Muthu Karuppan Cftettiar, A.I.R. 1946 Mad. 398 and Hur Purshad v. Sheo Dyal, 3 I.A. 259 at p. 285, referred to.

(iv) The evidence showed that document Ex.D-4 was intended by the parties to be the sole evi~ence of partition and since it had been held that Ex.D..4 was not admissible in evidence on account of non.registration to establish when the property was so partitioned, it was manifest that no oral evidence was admissible to prove any subsequent partition having regard to the prLvisions of s. 91 of the Evidence Act. [646 G-647 Al

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeals Nos. 749 and 750 of 1965.

Appeals by special leave from the judgment and decree dated November 8, 1963 of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in second appeals Nos. 569 and 568 of 1960 respectively,

S. V. Gupte and G. L. Sanghi, for the appellants (in both the appeals) .

Sarjoo Prasad and D. N. Mukherjee, for the respondents (in both the appeals).

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

Civil Appeal No. 749 of 1965 :

Ramaswami, J, This appeal is brought, by special leave, from the judgment of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, Jabal-G pur dated November 8, 1963 in Second Appeal No. 569 of 1960.

Respondents nos. 1 and 3, Hemlmmar and Dinomani and appellant no. 1 Shiromani are the sons of late Dharam Singh Agharia. Appellant no. 2 Mst. Subhagwati is the second wife of Dharam Singh and the mother of appellant no. 1. Mst. Jampal-hin, the mother of respondents 1 and 3 died before Dharam

SHIROMANI v. HEM KUMAR (Ramaswami, /.)

Singh married appellant no. 2. will appear from the following pedigree :

2. The relationship of the parties Dharam Singh

First wife: ~1st. Jampa\hin

Si:i.:onU wife: Mst. Sl

Sl1l'h<'gwati (Pllf. No. 2)

Shiron~ani (Plff. No. 1)

Hcn1Kumar Dinmani (Dfdt. No. I l (Dfdt. No. 3)

0ndraBhusa11Singh

Et war Singh (Dfdt. No. 2)

Cha0ndraBhusa11Singh !Dfdt. No. 4)

It is not disputed that the parties are governed by the Benares. School of Hindu Law. It appears that Dharam Singh was mur· dered in 1940 and his son Hemkumar was involved as an accused but he was acquit!ed in that case. Mst. Subhagwati, appellant no. 2 appeared as prosecution witness in the murder case and deposed against Hemkumar. At the time of his death, Dharam Singh had left 102.28 acres of ryoti land in village Tilgi arid 16.56 acres of ryoti land at village Supaka and also some house properties. Appellants 1 and 2 instituted C.S. no. 43-A of 1956 in the court of the Civil Judge, First Class, Raigrah claiming that they were entitled to }th share each of Dharam Singh's estate and there should be partition by metes and bounds of the joint family properries. They challenged the validity of Ex. D-4 dated December 27, 1943. It was alleged that Mst. Subhagwati was compelled by Hemkumar under threat of violence to execute the deed, Ex. D-4. It was said that the deed Ex. D-4 was prejudicial to Shiromani who was minor at that time because he was given Jess than the share to which he was entitled and his mother Mst. Subhagwati was also not given her due share of joint family properties. The appellants accordingly prayed that there should be fresh partition by metes and bounds of the joint family pro-perties and they should be given tth share each therein. The suit was resisied by the respondents on the ground that the parties were bound by the deed of partition, Ex. D-4 and there was no ground for reopening the partition which had already taken place. The trial judge found that the partition deed, Ex. D-4 dated December 27, 1943 was not executed by Mst. Subhag· wati under undue influence and that document was acted upon. If was further held by the trial judge that though the partition

SUPRBMB COURT REPORTS

-deed did not reserve any share to Mst. Subhagwati, the appellants were not entitled to reopen the partition because Mst. Subhagwati was not entitled to share and Hemkumar was entitled to an increased share on account of the custom of "Jetbansi". 1he .appellants took the matter in appeal to the.District Judge of Raigarb but the appeal wa~ dismissed. The appellants preferred .a Second Appeal to the High Court of Madhya Pradesh which dismissed the Second Appeal. The High Court took the view that the deed, Ex. D-4 was neither an award nor was it docu-ment effecting partition of immovable properties of the value of more than Rs. 100. It was held that Ex. D-4 was admissible in evidence in order to show that there was separation of status between the coparceners. The High Court also rejected the plea of the appellants that the partition should be reopened be· ·cause it did not give share to Mst. Subbagwati. Accord.in~ to the Benares School of Hindu Law, Mst. Subbagwati was enutled to share m the joint family properties equal to that of son but the High Court found that there was clear acquieicence on the part of Mst. Subbagwati when she executed the deed, Ex. D-4 and it must be taken that she relinquished her share in favour of the other coparceners. On.the question of "Jethansi" claimed by Hemkumar, the High Court found that the evidence established the custom of "Jethansi" whereby the elder son was given greater share in the property of bis father. On the basis of these findings the High Court dismissed the Second Appeal.

The first question to be considered in this appeal is whether the deed, Ex. D-4 dated December 27, 1943 is admissible in evidence. On behalf of the appellants Mr. Gu_pte put forward the argument that the document is inadmissible in evidence as it ·effected the partition of the properties of the value of more than Rs. 100 and it was not registered. It was argued that there was allotment of specific properties to individual coparceners in this document and its registration was therefore compulsory under s. 17 ( 1 )(b) of the Registration Act. In our opinion, the argu· ment put forward on behalf of the appellants is. well-founded and must be accepted as correct. It was contended on behalf of the respondents that the document was not necessary to be registered becaUSe there was only severance of joint status of the members of the coparcenary and there was no partition of the properties by metes and bounds. It is not possible to accept this argument as correct. The relevant portion of Ex. D-4 is to the following effect : ·

"For the partition of our joint land in Mauza Tilgi and Supa and house and utensils etc. and Dhan, mov-able and immovable property, amongst us three brothers, the Panchas have been appointed. The parti-tion and distribution effected by the under-mentioned

Panchas Will be acceptable to us and also the under-mentioned conditions will also have to be accepted by us.

1. Out of lease land in Mauza Tilgi and Mauza Supa totalling 123 acres, Hem Kumar's share including Jetltosi will be 51 acres that is 51 shares and Dinmani's 39 acres that is 39 shares and minor Shiromani's whose guardian is Smt. Subhagwati 33 acres that is 33 shares. The three of them will be in possession of the same. Out of 123 acres of land, the . land near Munga Tikra Gara Para will be given to Dinmani ang minor Shiromani through guardian Smt. Subhagwa\1 for building house instead of the old house. For building of the house in Munga Tikra the three brothers will give Rs. 60. Out of the 'Mitti Khatu' and Gobar khatu, there is in the house, after deducting Hemkumar's tenth share will be divided into three equal shares amongst the three brothers and they will take it so. They will also divide the buried Khatu into their shares. . . . . . . 5. That out of the old house the house on the side of the v'1lage the length of which is 30 haath and the stone used in it and the house on the side of 'Patav' the length of which is 30 haath, is given to Hem Kumar in his share and as Jethosi and the Bamboo, wood etc. used in the other house is given to the two brothers Dinmani and Shiromani. Besides the house and Kotha there is old and new wood and 3 new doors. All this is given to Dinmani and Shiromani."

With regard to ryoti lands, para 1 definitely states that H.em-F kumar is allotted 51 acres, Dinmani 39 and Shiromani 33 acres. With regard to the joint family house there is partition between the three brothers by metes and bounds and specific shares are given to each. In view of the recitals in Ex. D-4 we are of opinion that there is allotment of specific properties to individual co~ceners and the document therefore falls within the mis-G chief of s. 17 (l )(b) of the Registration Act. It follows that Ex. D-4 is not admissible in evidence to prove the title of any of the eoparceners to any particular property or to prove that any parti-cular property has ceased to be joint property. Of course the document is admissible to prove an intention on the part of the coparceners to become divided in status; in other words to prove that the parties ceased to be joint from the date of the histrument dated December 27, 1943 (See the decision of this Court in Nanni Bai v. Gita Ba1'1).

(I) [J959J S. C. R. 479.""°

We proceed to consider the next question arising in this appeal, namely, whether Mst. Subhagwati was entitled to share in the joint family properties equal to that of son and whether the alleged partition effected by Ex. D-4 was invalid because no such share was allotted to her. It is not disputed on behalf of the respondents that according to the Mitakshara Law of the Benares School wife is entitled, on partition between her sons, to a, share equal to that of son. But the contention put for-ward on behalf of the respondents is that by signing the docu· ment, Ex. D-4 Mst. Subhagwati acquiesced in the division of the properties between her sons without claiming any share for herself and it must consequently be. taken that Mst. Subhagwati relinquished her share. It was pointed out that Ex. D-4 was executed on December 27, 1943 and for period of 11 years Mst. Subhagwati did not take any action to impeach that dot:u· ment. We are unable to accept the argument pUt forward on behalf of the' respondents as correct. There is no issue in the trial court regarding the alleged acquiescence of Mst. Subhag· wati,, nor was it pleaded _on behalf of the respondents that there was an agreement by which Mst. Subhagwati gave up her share in favour of the other coparcen.ers. On the contrary, it is alleged in· para 9 of the Written Statement that Subhagwati was not en-titled to any share and therefore the partition alleged to be effect· ed by Ex. D-4 was not prejudicial to the interests of plaintiff no. 1. To put it differently, there is no pleading on the part of respondents of acquiescence by Mst. Subhagwati and there is no issue on the question of acquiescence. We are accordingly un-able to accept the 1lrgument of the respondents that there was acquiescence on the part of Mst. Subhagwati or that she relin-quished her share in favour of the other coparceners and the find· ing of the High Court on this point iS erroneous.

We pass on to consider the next question arising in this appeal, namely, whether Hemkumar was entitled to greater share of joillli family properties for the reason· that he was the eldest brother on the principle of "Jethansi". But the doctrine of "Jethansi" or "Jeshtbhagam" is now obsolete and unenforce· able. The principle of Hindu Law is equality of division and the exceptions to that rule have almost, if not altogether, dis-appeared. One of the exceptions was in favour of the eldest son, who was originally entitled to special share on partition, either tenth or twentieth in excess of the others, or some special chattel, or an extra portion of the flocks (Apastamba, Il, 6, 14, 10..13; Baudh., Il, 2, 2-5; Gaut., XXVIII, U, 12; Vas., XVII, 42-45; Manu, IX. 112, 114, 156). But unequal parti-tion of ancestral or joint propertY was from early times condemn-ed. The Smritichandrika, the Vyavahara Mayukha and the Viramitrodaya declare that unequal partition is forbidden in the Kali age (Smritichandrika, III, 16; V. May., IV, iv, 11; Viramit.,

greater

ill, 16 (Setlur's ed., 319)._ The Commentary of Mitakshara on y ajnavalkya. n. 117 is briefly as follows :

"art !Wr! ~: lllffiili:"<ffif'llfil <'!fi!;firf~""oe~«1~1w=1 ~: 1 awrd ~ ~ 111'~1'1'~ <J:·mr f~ I ~T-'f~ 'lT ~ 'fT ~lf"414i'liW~-mr ~ <'IT'lif<r~l<"'1'i"61~'J. 1 l{'TT 'fT-B 4"11<\&•i <rt 'fWl'f'iil"o!fT'fT;rif<r-~f<r 'f~iff<l!ffifil' <it1t1-fqfa;;,;«llq~'J."OT'flJ: 1 ~ '1"-lf'TT f~41•ra>il oil' '"'l;-~Tf<r•r 1 Mi;t<fq'l\iliTSfq' lf'f lfirfa •<fit 11 ~ I ••• ~ftr<rirr flrin;r: mm;<itfii <'!T't1f~~fi'l'f<\<la1~<t 'fl'\~ ef« "1'!1f'f ~mmr f.!<r...r,f 1 flrnr on 'IT l l-1 1 1 .

in the sastras

"Unequal division though found in the sastras (e.g. Mam1 IX. 105, 112, 116, 117, Yaj. II. 114) should not be practised because it has come to be con-demned tor has become hateful to) by the people, since there is the prohibition (in Yaj .. I. 156) that an action, though prescribed in the sastras, should not be performed when it has come to be condemned by the people since such an action does not lead to the attain-ment ~f Heaven. For example, though Yaj. t 109 prescribes the offering of big ox or goat to learn-ed brahmana guest, it is not now practised because people have come to hate it; or just as, although there is Vedic text laying down the sacrificing of cow 'one should sacrifice barren cow called anubandhya for Mitra and Varona', still it is not done because people condemn it.· And it has been said 'just as the practice of niyoga or the killing of the anubandhya cow is not now in vogue, so also division after givinll special share (to the eldest son) does not now exist".

As between brothers or other relations, absolute equality is now the invariable rule in all the States, unless, perhaps, where some special family custom to the contrary is made out (For example, see the decision of the Madras High Court in M.Y.A.A. Nachi-appa Chettiar v. M.Y.A.A. Muthu Karuppan Chettiar(')_.

On behalf of the respondents, however, reliance was placed upon the special custom of "Jethansi" said to be pr¢valent in the caste of Agharias to which the parties belong. Reference was made to the evidence of D.W. 4, Baratrani, D.W. 5, Sitaram, D.W. 6, Ya1obra and D.W. 7, Khewla1 to show that there ~ such custom in the caste whereby the eldest son was given greaier share in .the property of the father: Mr. Sarjoo Prasad took us through the evidence of these witnesses but we are not

satisfied on their evidence that the custom pleaded for has been established. It is well-established that custom must be proved to be ancient, certain and reasonable if it is to be recognised and acted upon by Courts of law; ll!ld being in derogation of the general rules of law the custom must be construed strictly (See Hur Purshad v. Sheo Dyal)('). In the present case, the evidence adduced on behalf of the respondents to prove the alleged custom is unsatisfactory and conflicting. D.W. 4, Baratram stated that the custom of "Jethansi" was prevalent ill Agharias community but he admitted when cross-examined, that he was not present at any partition. He further said that there was "no fixed cus-tom about Jethansi and the1eldest brother could be given more or Jess". D.W. 5, Sitaram s~d that "I got 16 acres of Jetbansi land in partition between my own brother." The total area of land was 100 acres. He admitted that there was no written document about the custom. D.W. 6, Yalobra said that his brother Sita Ram got Jethansi land of 16 acres out of total area of 100 acres. When cross-examined, be said that no more than Dashanshi was . given "and the people who divided did not fell any account of it". The evidence of Khew!al, D.S. 7 is that there was partition among his brothers and the eldest brother Din Dayal was given 5-6 acres of land as Jethansi. The total area of the land to be divided was 100 acres. No documentary evidence of partition has been adduced on behalf of the respon-dents and the oral evidence is vague and uncertain. We are accordingly of the opinion that the custom of J ethansi alleged on behalf of the respondents has not been established by proper evidence and the finding of the High Court is vitiated because it is not supported by proper evidence. We accordingly reject the argument of the respondents that Hemkumar was entitled to larger share of the joint family properties on the basis of the alleged custom of J ethansi in his caste.

On behalf of the respondents reference was made to the evi. dence of D.W. 1 Dinamani and D.W. 2 Dindayal that there was an actual partition of joint family properties not on December 27,. 1943 when Ex. D-4 was executed but about two months later and specific allotments Were made to each of the copar-ceners. There is, however, no pleading in the Written S•atement on behalf of the respondents that apart from the document, Ex. D-4 there was partition of the joint fan1ily properties. We are satisfied in this case, upon examination of the evidence. that the intention of the parties was that document Ex. D-4 should be the sole evidence of partition and since we have held that Ex. D-4 is not admissible in evidence on account of non-registration to establish when the property was so partitioned, it· is manifest that no oral evidence is admissible to prove any subsequent parti·

(,I) 3 I. A. 259, at p. 28S.

.tion having regard ID the provisions of s. 91 of the Evidence Act. It is clear therefore that the appellants are entitled to prelimi· nary decree for partition of joint family properties.

For the reasons ex~ we hold that this appeal should be allowed and the suit brought by the two appellants should be &creed. The appellants, Subhagwati and Shiromani are each entitled ID tth share in the joint family properties and there should be preliminary decree drawn up for the partition of tth share of the joint family properties for each of the appellants, Mst. Subhagwati and Shiromani. The question as to what are the joint family properties which are to be the subject-matter of partition would be determined by the trial court in proceedings for 1he final decree. We accordingly allow this appeal with costs.

Civil Appeal No. 750 of 1965 :