Fami

l
ylawcases(
17t
o19)
Casesar
esummarizedbyABHI
SHEKKUMAR
MISHRA,CLC,
8299556360

A.Raghav
ammavA.Chenchamma(
1964)
Fact
-S,execut
eda"
Wil
l
",wher
ebyhegav
ehi
spr
oper
ti
est
oSS,
,asSS,
died,
soS|
'
spr
oper
ti
es
devolv
edupont hemi norson.Undert hewil
l,executedbySIon14Jan. ,1945,hedidn'
tgiveany
sharetohisdaughter-i
n-l
aw(wi dowofSS,),butdirect
edthatduringt heminori
tyofmi norson,
thei
rpropert
ieswoul dbeentrustedtoRaghv amma, ti
llt
hemi norsonbecomemaj or
Raghvamma, bymut ualagr
eement ,al
l
owedpr opert
iestoremaininthehandsofChenchamma, t
il
l
theminorsondiedin1949, whenRaghv ammaf il
edas ui
tforpossessionofpropert
iesonthe
groundofall
eged'Will
'.
Thesui twascontest
edbyChenchammaont hegr oundthat-herhusband
SSIwasnotadoptedbyRaghv amma, andthatshewasdeni edther i
ghttoparti
ti
on.

I
ssue-whet
heramemberoft
heJHF,
becomessepar
atef
rom t
heot
hermember
soft
hef
ami
l
y,
byameredecl
arat
ionofhi
sunequi
vocal
int
ent
iont
odiv
idef
rom t
hef
ami
l
y,wi
thoutbr
ingi
ngt
he
samet
otheknowledgeoftheot
herfami
lymember
s.

Deci
sion-AWi
l
lcont
aini
ngadecl
arat
ionofi
ntent
iont
osepar
atewi
l
lnotr
esul
tinsev
erance
ofstatusunlessi tisbr oughttot henot iceoft heKar taandot hercopar cener
s.An
uncommuni cat edexpr essionofi nt
ention, atbest,canamountt oadesi r
etopar t
it
ion,i
tcannot
amountt osev eranceofst atus.Further, t
hedecl arati
onoft heint ent
ion,inordertobeef f
ecti
ve,
mustbecommuni cateddur ingt heli
fetimeoft heonewhoexpr essesit.UndertheHi ndulaw,
presumptionisal way si nfavourofj oi
ntf ami l
y.Thebur dentopr ovethepar t
iti
onliesonthe
pl
ainti
ffandt hisbur denwasnotdi schar gedint hepresentcase.Ev enifthe"Will
"maybe
presumedt ocont aint heintentionoft heexecut anttoseparate, part
iti
oncannotbeef f
ecti
ve
unlesssuchani ntenti
oni sknownt oot hercopar ceners.

Held-Thus,
theplai
nti
ffcouldn'
tcl
aim possessi
onofproper
ti
es,
sincebysurv
ivor
shi
pthe
pr
operti
esdevol
vedupont heminorson,andaf t
erhi
sdeath,
uponhisguar
diani.
e.
Chenchamma.
Casesar
esummarizedbyABHI
SHEKKUMAR
MISHRA,CLC,
8299556360

Put
tr
angummavRangamma(
1968)
Fact
-Int
hiscase,t
heKar
ta,wi
thhi
sthr
eebr
other
sandt
hei
rdescendant
sconst
it
utedaj
oint
family
.TheKar tabecamesi ck;whilei nhospitalheissuedanot icetosepar atefrom t hej
oint
family
.Hi sy oungerbr ot
her'
ssonwhowasi nhospi talatthattimesnat chedt henot iceand
attemptedt ot eari t
,butwaspr eventedf rom doingso.Af tert
henot i
cewasr egi
steredatthe
postof f
ice,t
hef amilymember sintervened,tr
iedtobringaboutanami cabl
eset tl
ement .Att
his,
theKar t
awi t
hdr ewt henot
ice.Howev er ,noagreementcouldber eachedsubsequent ly
.TheKar ta
signedav akalat namaandi nst
ructedhi slawy ertoi nst
it
uteasui tf orpar t
iti
on.TheKar ta,
howev er,di
edont hesamedaywhent hesuitwasi nst
it
uted.

I
ssue-(
i)modeofser
viceofcommuni
cat
ionofi
ntent
ionandi
tsef
fi
cacy
;(i
i
)whet
hert
he
ser
viceofnot
iceonaKar
tawoul
dbeenough,
oronmaj
ormember
s,oronal
lcopar
cener
s.

Deci
sion-The'cour
t,r
egar
dingt
hef
ir
stquest
ionobser
vedt
hatt
hepr
ocessof
communi cat
ionmayv ar
ywithci rcumst ancesofeachcase.Thepr oofoff or
mal
dispatchorr eceiptofcommuni cationbyot hermember sisnotes s enti
al,
noritsabsence
fatalt
os ev er
anc eofstat
us.Whati snecessar yisthatdeclar at
iontobeef fecti
veshould
reacht heaf f
ectedpersonsbysomepr ocessappr opr i
atetogi vensituati
onand
circumst ancesoft hecase.Int hi
scase, acoparcenerpost edal ettercommuni cati
ng
i
nt ent
iont osev er,
butbefor
et helettercouldreachitsdes t
inati
on,itwaswi thdr
awnf r
om
postof fi
ce.Butt henewsofi ntentionreachedaf fectedpar ti
esindirect
ly.Heldthatthe
communi cationwassuf f
ici
entandef fecti
veandi tcoul dnotbewi thdrawn.

Thecour tr
egardingsecondquest i
onobservedthatthatthemostappr opri
at epersont o
whom ifshouldbecommuni cated,ist
heKarta,butifhe,f
orthetimebeing,i
sunav ailabl
e,
i
tc anbebroughttothenoti
ceoft heothercoparceners.Sincet
heKar t
amanagest he
propert
yandpl aysaleadroleinitsact
ualdi
visi
on,apar t
it
ionbymetesandboundsc annot
takepl
aceunlesstheKartaisinfor
medaboutt heint
entiontoseparat
e.Howev er,
therei s
noneedt oinform eachandev erycoparc
enerindiv
iduall
yandac ommuni cat
iontothe
Kartai
ss uf
fi
cient
.
Casesar
esummarizedbyABHI
SHEKKUMAR
MISHRA,CLC,
8299556360

KakumanuPedasubhay
yavKakumanu
Akkamma(1958)
Fact
-Int
hiscase,t
hemat
ernalgr
andf
atherofami
nor"
copar
cener
,fi
l
edas
uitf
ort
he
parti
ti
ononbehalfofs aidmi nor
,ast henextfr
iendofmi nor.Thefactsestabl
i
shedcl ear
ly
proved thatthe defendants( father
,hisfir
stwi fe and his sons)were continuously
dissi
pati
ng theancest ralestatebysel li
ng lands,and byi ncurr
ing l
arge-
scal
edebt s
withoutanylegal
necessi t
y,Thef amil
ypropert
iesweresol dandf r
eshonespur chasedin
thenamesofadul tcoparceners.,Thepeti
ti
onwasadmi tted,butduri
ngthependencyof
theli
ti
gation,
theminordied.

I
ssue-Thei
ssuesar
oser
egar
dingt
hest
atusoft
hemi
noronhi
sdeat
h"(
undi
vi
dedor
separ
atemember
)andwhet
hert
hesui
tbeabat
edonhi
sdeat
h.

Deci
sion-Thecour
tobser
vedt
hatunderHi
ndul
aw,t
her
eisnodi
sti
nct
ionbet
weent
he
r
ight
sofami
norandamaj
orc
opar
cener
,asf
arast
hecopar
cenar
ypr
oper
tyi
sconcer
ned.

Regardingt hequest i
on,ast owhet herthesuitshouldabat eont hemi nor'sdeath,t he
courtheldt hatthemomentasui twasf i
l
edonbehal fofthemi nor,aseveranceofst atus
hast akenpl ace,andt heonl ydiff
erencebetweent hecasesofamaj orandami nor
coparceneris,thathere,itwasconditi
onaluponthecour tcomingt otheconclusi
ont hatit
wil
lfurthertheinterest
soft hemi nor.Til
lthecourtexaminest hatissue,thestatusofa
minoratt het i
meofhi sdeath,wouldr emainuncert
ain.Asthest atuscanbedet ermi ned
onl
ywhent hecour tdecidesthesuit
,thesuitwil
lnotabatewitht hemi nor
'sdeathandt he
courtwi l
ldecidethecaseonmer it
s.

I
nt hepresentcase,t
heparti
ti
onwasdesir
abl
e,andwitht
heappli
cat
ionoft
hedoctri
neof
rel
ati
onback,minor'
ssev
erancefr
om t
hejoi
ntfamil
ytookpl
aceonthedateoffi
l
ingoft he
parti
ti
onsuitandatt hetimeofhisdeath,hewasasepar at
emember .Ther
efore,his
shareinthepropertywouldgobyinher
it
ancetohismotherari
dnottothecoparceners
underthedoctri
neofsurvi
vorshi
p.

Thus,i
fmi nordiesduri
ngpendencyofthesuit,thesamecanbecont
inuedbyl
egal
repr
esent
ativeofminor(
motherofthepl
aint
if
finthepresentcase)
.