• Submitted To- Ms.

Anukriti Gupta
• Submitted By- Apoorv Salar
• Subject- Family Law-II
• Section-A
• Roll N0- 03613403819
• Topic- Partition How Effected: Suit For Partition
 Introduction
-Black’s Law Dictionary defines Partition as “ the act of dividing real property held
jointly or in common by two or more persons into individually owned interests
(Partition in kind).
-It is the segregation of property owned in undivided shares, so as to vest in each co-
owner exclusive title to a specific portion in lieu of his undivided interest in the
whole.” The term ‘partition’ is generally applied to real estate.
According to the Partition Laws in India, only two kinds of property can be partitioned
by the voluntary acts of the owners:
Self-acquired property
Ancestral Property
-There are various ways in which partition of an ancestral property can take place. It
can happen through a partition deed or family settlement or by filing a suit for partition
or by partition through will probate.
 What is a Partition suit?
A partition suit is a legal proceeding which is:-
-instituted by a coparcener
-invoked when a property dispute arises in the family
-invoked when there is absence of mutual consent
among the multiple owners of the real estate in the
sale or division of the property.
- is initiated only when the legal notice of partition
has been disregarded by the other co-owners and
the dispute continues.
Laws that regulate Partition in
India
• The Partition Act, 1893
Section 2 of The Partition Act 1893 gives power to the court to
order sale instead of division in partition suit if such division appears
to be unreasonable or inconvenient for all the shareholders. The
court in such circumstance, on the interest of any such shareholders
may direct a sale or distribution of the proceeds. U/S 9 of this Act
the court may also make a decree for distribution of part of the
property to which the suit relates and the sale of the remainder.
• The Hindu Succession Act 1956 (Governs the partition in Hindu
Joint Family).
• The Hindu Undivided Family [HUF] and The Hindu Partition
Act of Property 1892( Governs property partition of jointly
owned property by two or more co-owners).
 Who can file a partition
suit?
Any person who is a legal heir or co-owner
of the joint property, in possession of any
legal document (will, gift deed,sale deed)
can file a suit for partition and claim his
individual share. It is advisable to collect
the certified documents of the same
including the market value and death
certificates from the concerned authorities.
 Process of Filing Partition suit
in India
• A specific procedure needs to be maintained while filing
any kind of suit to avoid it’s dismissal on any grounds. It
involves the following steps which are discussed as follows:
• 1.Filing of suit/plaint : A plaint is a written formal
complaint made by the plaintiff expressing his grievances,
claims and cause of action to the court of law. It must be
filed within the time period prescribed in The Limitation
Act 1963 or it may become time-barred. The document
should include the following information i.e.
• Name of the court 
• Name, description and of address the parties
• Facts to determine the jurisdiction of the court
• Facts that constitute the cause of action
• Description of the property
• Amount of relief claimed
• Statement of value of the subject matter of the
suit
• A declaration stating the genuity of the
complaint
• 2. Vakalatnama/ Vakil Patra : Vakalatnama is a written
document that entitles an advocate to act and represent
matters before any court,tribunal or authority on behalf of
his client. The document is usually authorized by an
aggrieved person or by anyone who holds the power of
attorney for an aggrieved person or represents him in
business or trade in that jurisdiction. A Valakatnama may
contain the following terms and conditions:

• The advocate shall not be held liable for any decision made
by the court.
• The client must bear all the expenses and costs during the
court proceedings.
• The advocate can retain all the documents until complete
fees are paid.
• Court Fees : A nominal court fee of Rs 200 is usually applicable incase of a joint property. After payment
has been made the court shall mention the date of the first hearing to the plaintiff and decide whether to
continue with the proceedings or not.
• Hearing : On the first day of hearing, if the court believes there are merits in the case, it will issue a notice
to the opposite party to submit their arguments and fix another date of hearing. The plaintiff is then
required to file the appropriate amount of procedure fee in the court and two copies of plaint for each
defendant within 7 days. 
• Written Statement : The defendant shall keep a record of his written statements disproving the allegations
made in the plaint else, such allegations would be deemed to be accepted. He must also provide a
declaration stating that the contents of the written statement are true to his knowledge. The time period
for filing a written statement is 30 days, and can be extended to 90 days if the court agrees.
• Replication by the Plaintiff : Replication is a reply filed by the plaintiff against the written statement of the
defendant denying all the allegations made by him. Once, the replication has been filed, the pleadings are
considered to be complete.
• Filing of other documents : After the completion of the pleadings, both the parties to the case are
provided an opportunity to submit and file the original documents to substantiate their respective claims.
Only those documents that are admitted by the parties are recorded by the court and a photocopy of the
same must be presented to the opposite party.
• Framing of Issues : Issues are framed by the court on the basis of which arguments and examination of
witnesses take place.
• List of Witnesses : All the witnesses the parties intend to produce and to be examined have to be
presented before the court after which the date for the final hearing is fixed.
• Final hearing : On the day of the Final Hearing the arguments shall take place between both the parties on
the issues framed by the court after which a final order is passed.
• Certified copy of Order : The court provides the parties with a certified copy of order having the seal and
stamp of the court. It is useful in the case of appeal or in the execution of order.
Limitation Period for filing
partition suit 
Article 65 of The Limitation Act 1963
prescribes a time period of 12 years
within which a person may file a suit for
partition.
 Case laws
• In Rachakonda Venkat Rao v. R. Satya
Bai (11th September, 2003) , the Supreme Court explained the various
steps involved in a suit for partition. Depending on the outcome of the
adjudication, or area of agreement between the parties, the suit can be
disposed of in one stroke, or by way of two decrees namely the
preliminary and final. Where the subject-matter of the partition is a
land, being part of estate and assessed to revenue, the steps
subsequent to preliminary decree are required to be undertaken by the
District Collector under Section 54 C.P.C. In other matters, the Court
has to undertake steps to divide the properties by metes and bounds
and deliver the same to the parties concerned in accordance with their
respective shares. A party can seek delivery of possession in
accordance with the final decree only after it is engrossed on a stamp
of adequate value and by initiating execution proceedings. Any other
step in between a preliminary and final decree is almost impermissible.
In Rajinder Kumar Kapur v. Madan Mohan Lal Kapur (29th July, 2019) the
plaintiff who instituted the suit for partition was the son of the defendant’s deceased brother.
The property under consideration originally belonged to Kundan Lal Kapur, the father of the
defendant. The defendant filed an application for rejection of the suit. The documents that
were presented before the court confirmed that the said property was in occupation and
possession of the defendant. It was changed in his name after the execution of three general
power of attorneys and relinquishment deeds in his favor by remaining heirs of Kundan Lal
Kapur including plaintiff’s father. The said documents were executed in the year 1979 i.e. more
than thirty six years before filing of partition suit.

The High Court observed that the General Power of Attorneys and the relinquishment deeds
were duly registered under section 17 of The Registration Act 1908, with the relevant
authorities and hence were not required to be proved by an attesting witness as it is clearly
understood from section 68 of The Indian Evidence Act, 1872. It was stated under the
provisions of the Registration Act read with the provisions of the Indian Evidence Act,
registered documents ought to be read in evidence. The same carries a sanctity in law and are
presumed to have been executed.” Further, “The fact that these documents were executed way
back in 1979, i.e. almost 40 years ago and 36 years by the time the suit was filed, itself shows
that they have enormous sanctity especially in view of Section 90 of the Evidence Act, 1872.”
As all the General Power of Attorneys and relinquishment deeds were registered, the same
were believed to be legal and valid. Considering all the circumstances and facts of the case the
court held that the plaintiff did not have any cause of action and the suit was time-barred. His
suit was rejected on the following two grounds. The application made by the defendant under
Order 7, Rule 11 of CPC was permitted. 
In the case of Uttam v. Subagh Singh and Ors.
( March 2, 2016) a partition suit was instituted by
the son in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh against his father
and his father’s three brothers. He demanded
1/8th share in the suit property on the basis that the
suit property was an ancestral property and being a
coheir he had a right in the property by birth in
compliance with the Mitakshara Law. The Supreme
Court held that on the date of the birth of the
plaintiff, the said ancestral property was not a joint
family property and hence the partition of such a
property would not be maintainable. The property
that is inherited by a Hindu from his father’s father
or father’s fathers’ father is an ancestral property.
 Bibliography
• https://www.iAndialawoffices.com/
• https://www.vidhikarya.com/
• https://www.myadvo.in/
• https://blog.ipleaders.in/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/
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