Court discharges woman in forgery complaint by brother
Ramkrishan Upadhyay
Chandigarh, July 30
When a Hindu having self-acquired property dies after the enforcement of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, his heirs take the property as their separate property and not as coparceners’ property. Observing this, Dr Aman Inder Singh Sandhu, Chief Judicial Magistrate, has discharged a woman in a case filed against her by her brother.
The brother said their father gifted his 50 per cent share in a house in Sector 15 to his sister in 2004. He said his father could not have gifted his share in property to his sister in as much as the same was not a self-acquired property of their father, but an ancestral one.
He said his sister sold the property on May 28, 2010. He alleged his sister alienated the property illegally and therefore, she had become liable for offences under Section 465, 471 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The reason for the transfer being illegal was that she herself was not the legitimate owner because their father had no right to gift it to her.
Akshay Mittal, counsel for the accused sister denied the charges and said the gift deed was valid. After hearing the arguments, the court said the complainant and the accused were siblings. The house was allotted to two brothers.
One brother died in 1963 and his 50 per cent share dwells upon his only son, the father of accused and complainant. The court said the father was the owner of 50 per cent share in property as his self-acquired property. He died in 1963, well after coming into force of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. It has been held by the SC that when a Hindu having self-acquired property dies after coming into force of the Act, his heirs take the property as their separate property and not as coparceners. Therefore, their father inherited the property as absolute owner. The gift deed in favour of his daughter was a valid transaction, the court said.
