Appeal No 158 of 1953
Appeal by special leave from the judgment and decree dated April 6 1950 of the Calcutta High Court in appeal from original decree No 166 of 1944 arising out of the decree dated June 30 1943 of the Court of the Subordinate Judge Asansol in Title Suit No 2 of 1942
Ramanugrah Prasad and Mohan Beharilal for the appellants
H J Umrigar and section P Varma for respondents Nos I and 2 1957
January 29
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by section K DAS J
This is an appeal by special leave from the judgment and decree of the High Court of Calcutta dated April 6 1950 by which the said High Court affirmed the judgment and decree of the Subordinate Judge of Asansol dated June 30 1943 in Title Suit No 2 of 1942
The suit was instituted by the four sons of one Ram Kishori Lal Sao a resident of Asansol in Bengal who died in September 1927
The defendants were Sumitra Devi widow of the late Ram Kishori Lal defendant No 1 and Kamala Devi daughter of the late Ram Kishori Lal defendant No 2
The said defendants I and 2 are the appellants before us
The suit was instituted for a declaration that a deed of gift dated March 10 1940 executed by Sumitra Devi in favour of her daughter Kamala Devi was void and inoperative beyond the lifetime of Sumitra Devi and was not binding on the reversion
The following genealogical table shows the relation inter se between the parties 455 Ram Kishori Lal 3rd wife 4th wife 5th wife Sumitra Devi Deft 1 KalicharanPlff3 Rambandhu BachuLal Heman Lal died during pen plff 4 Plff
1Plff 2 dency of the suit Mst
Ram Sakhi Plff 3 gha Satyanarain HiralalGopal Lachmi Narain Kamala Devi Plff3 Ka Plff3 Kha Plff 3 Ga died on I I 36 Deft 2 On his death Ram Kishori Lal had left extensive properties worth several lakhs including some houses in Asansol two businesses at Howrah and Asansol and large amounts of money deposited in Banks or invested in loans etc
sons for partition of the properties left by her husband
This suit was registered as Title Suit No 664 of 1927 in the Court of the Subordinate Judge of Asansol
A preliminary decree was passed in the suit on July 22 1933 and a final decree on June 29 1936
This decree provided for payment of Rs 10000 as expenses for the marriage of the minor daughter Kamala in addition to a maintenance allowance of Rs 50 per month to her until she was married
Lachmi Narain it should be noted died on January 1 1936
By the final decree  each of the sons obtained one sixth share of the estate of Ram Kishori Lal
By reason of the death of Lachmi Narain before the final decree Sumitra Devi got one third share of the estate one sixth in her capacity as widow and one sixth as the mother of her pre deceased son
The allotment in favour of Sumitra Devi consisted mostly of house properties and the four houses of her share with which we are concerned in this litigation were described in a schedule to the plaint and stood on Municipal Holding Nos 116 17 26 and 27 of Circle 4 of the Asansol Municipality
The value of these four houses was found by the Commissioner at the time of partition to be in the neighbourhood of Rs 19000 only
59 456 The marriage of Kamala Devi was settled with one Bijoy Kumar Sao son of Nand Lal Sao a retired Deputy Postmaster Patna General Post Office
The case of the appellants was that the marriage was settled at Deoghar on Shivratri day in 1938 and the plaintiffs respondents before us had no concern with the negotiation  it was alleged that the terms of the marriage settlement included a promise by Sumitra Devi of a gift of four houses at Asansol worth about Rs 20000 as marriage dowry for Kamala
The further case of the appellants was that at the time of the marriage itself which was performed on May 10 1938 Sumitra Devi made a sankalpa of the gift of four houses at Asansol which was accepted by Nand Lal Sao on behalf of Kamala and the gift was later confirmed on the occasion of the Dwiragaman Gowna ceremony which took place in December 1938 and possession of the houses was also given to her soon after the marriage however Sumitra Devi feel ill and the deed of gift was actually executed and registered on March 10 1940 some two years after the marriage
This was the deed of gift which was impugned by the plaintiffs respondents
The case of the plaintiffs respondents was that the marriage negotiations took place at Asansol and did not contain any promise of the gift of four houses as marriage dowry
The plaintiffs respondents alleged that the arrangements were that ornaments worth about Rs 5000 were to be given to Kamala Devi a sum of Rs 800 was to be paid as travelling expenses of the bridegroom s party and gifts of some moveable properties were to be made out of the balance of the sum of Rs 10000 which was set apart for the marriage expenses of Kamala Devi
The plaintiffs respondents denied that there was any ante nuptial promise of a gift of four houses as marriage dowry or that there was any sankalpa at the time of marriage or any confirmation of the gift at the Dwiragaman ceremony
They alleged that Sumitra Devi under the evil advice of her father and son in law and to deprive the plaintiffs respondents of their right made a gift of the four houses at Asansol in favour of Kamala Devi 457 on the 10th March 1940 a gift which she was not competent under the law to make
It was alleged that the gift was collusive fraudulent and without consideration and in any event it could not be operative beyond the lifetime of Sumitra Devi and was not binding on the reversion as she had only a life interest in the corpus of the property and there was no justifying legal necessity for the alienation made by her
It wag also alleged that Sumitra Devi was not legally competent to make a gift as marriage dowry of her daughter of such a big and unreasonable portion of the estate left by her husband
On the aforesaid pleadings of the parties the principal issues were Issues Nos 2 and 3 which were in these terms 2Is the defendant No I competent to make any gift of the properties mentioned in the plaint beyond her lifetime to defendant No 2  Is it void and inoperative against the plaintiffs beyond the lifetime of defendant No I 
3 Is the deed of gift executed by defendant No I in favour of defendant No 2 with the alleged collusive and fraudulent allegations binding on the plaintiffs on her death  It is necessary now to summarise the findings of the Courts below on these issues
On the questions of fact involved in the two issues the learned Subordinate Judge came to the following findings  1 the marriage of Kamala Devi was settled at Deoghar as claimed by Mst
Sumitra Devi and not At Asansol 2 there was however no promise of any gift by her of four houses at Asansol either at the time of the settlement of the marriage terms at Deoghar or during the marriage ceremony 3 the story of the delivery of possession of the houses to Kamala Devi was not supported by reliable evidence
Basing his decision on the aforesaid findings of fact the learned Subordinate Judge  held that the interest created in favour of Sumitra Devi in respect of the properties allotted to her on partition was in the nature of an ordinary maintenance grant and she had no right to alienate the same in favour of her daughter
Even if she had the limited right of 458 disposal as in the case of a Hindu widow she was not competent to execute any deed of gift except with regard to a reasonable portion of the estate of her husband at the time of the marriage of Kamala Devi or on the occasion of the Gowna ceremony
Though the learned Subordinate Judge found that the properties given to Kamala Devi constituted a reasonable portion of the estate he held that the gift not having been made at the time of the marriage or on the occasion of the Gowna ceremony in accordance with the provi sions of section 123 Transfer of Property Act was not binding on the plaintiffs respondents and could not operate beyond the lifetime of Sumitra Devi
He accordingly decreed the suit
The learned Judges of the High Court formulated five questions of fact four of which are important for our purpose and on a fresh consideration of the evidence on the record came to the following findings thereon 1 a final settlement of the terms of marriage was made at Deoghar and the terms which were settled between the parties were a that Sumitra Devi would arrange for the gift of ornaments worth about Rs 5000 b a sum of Rs 800 would be paid for meeting the expenses of travelling of the bridegroom s party from Patna to Asansol e a sum of Rs 51 would be paid for the Tilak ceremony and d a gift of four houses at Asansol worth about Rs 20000 would be made in favour of Kamala Devi though the evidence led on behalf of the appellants did not make it absolutely clear or specific that the promise related to the four particular houses which were the subjectmatter of the subsequent gift 2 the plaintiffs respondents had nothing to do either with the settlement of the terms of marriage or with any control or management of the marriage ceremony 3 there was no reliable evidence that Sumitra Devi had made a  sankalpa  of the gift of the houses when the bride was given in marriage and the question of confirming such a gift at the Gowna ceremony did not therefore arise 4 it was not proved by reliable evidence that the possession of the houses in question was made over to Kamala Devi before the actual execution of 459 the deed of gift
Relying on the decision in Debi Mangal Prasad Singh vs Mahadeo Prasad Singh 1 the learned Judges of the High Court pointed out that even in cases governed by the Mitakshara the parties in this case are admittedly governed by the Benares school of Mitakshara law the share allotted to Sumitra Devi on partition was not her stridhan but stood on the same footing as property inherited by her from her husband and that on her death the property would pass not to her stridhan heirs but to the sons or grandsons
The learned Judges then referred to the decision in Churaman Sahu vs Go pi Sahu2 and observed that though it was competent for a Hindu widow governed by the Mitakshara to make a valid gift of a reasonable portion of the immoveable property of her husband to her daughter subsequent to the marriage ceremony the gift in Churaman Sahu s case was made at the time of the Dwiragaman Gowna ceremony which was really a part of the marriage ceremony while the gift in the present case was made some two years after the marriage
They then said In the case now before us the marriage and the Gowna ceremony took place in 1938 and the document was executed in March 1940 the lapse of time between the two is too great to describe the gift to have been made on the occasion of either the marriage or the Gowna ceremony
The ante nuptial promise cannot be regarded as a gift having been made on the occasion of the marriage
In view of the strict provisions of the Transfer of Property Act we can only consider the gift to have been made at the time when the deed was executed and registered
 On the question whether the gift in favour of Kamala Devi by Sumitra Devi I 1912 LR 39 IA 1212 Cal1 460 was of a reasonable portion of her husband s properties the learned Judges observed  In the present case the value of the houses gifted was just above Rs 18000 which was about a fourth of the value of each share allotted viz above Rs 73000
Even if the provision of Rs 10000 made in the partition decree for meeting the marriage expenses be taken into account we cannot say that the value of the gifted houses was disproportionate or unreasonable
 In the result the High Court affirmed the decision of the learned Subordinate Judge and dismissed the appeal preferred by the defendants who are the appellants here
It is necessary to state now the contentions which have been urged before us on behalf of the appellants and they may be put in two main categories a contentions with regard to the findings of fact and b contentions of law
Learned counsel for the appellants has impeached the concurrent finding of the Courts below that there was no  sankalpa  or promise of a gift of the four houses in question at the time of the marriage ceremony which it was alleged was followed by a confirmation of the gift at the Gowna ceremony
The finding has been impeached on the ground of a serious error of record said to have been committed by the High Court and on the ground of non consideration of relevant evidence
It has been argued before us that the proper finding should have been that Sumitra Devi made a sankalpa  of the gift of the four houses in question after the Sampradan ceremony on the occasion of the marriage of Kamala Devi and that the gift was accepted by Nand Lal on behalf of his minor daughter in law and that such a gift was again confirmed at the Gowna ceremony
The main contentions of law are three in number firstly it has been contended that even accepting the findings of the final Court of fact as correct the gift being of a reasonable portion of the estate of Ram Kishori Lal Sao and in pursuance and fulfilment of an ante nuptial agreement made by Sumitra Devi at the time of the final settlement of the marriage negotiations at Deoghar was for the spiritual 461 benefit of Ram Kishori Lal and valid in Hindu law any such lapse of time as occurred in the execution and registration of the deed of gift was immaterial if the deed of gift was in fulfilment of the moral obligation flowing from the ante nuptial agreement secondly it was suggested that Sumitra Devi got an absolute right in the properties given to her as her share on partition thirdly a reference was made to section 14 of the and it has been argued that in view of the said provisions the plaintiffs respondents were not entitled to the reliefs which they claimed
It may be stated here that arguments in the case had concluded before the Court closed for the annual vacation in 1956 and during the vacation the  came into force on June 17 1956
On an application filed by the appellants fresh arguments were heard with regard to the provisions of section 14 of the 
We proceed now to deal with the contentions in the order in which we have stated them
First we take up the contentions with regard to the findings of fact referred to above
It has been pointed out to us that the learned Judges of the High Court made a serious error of record in dealing with the oral evidence as to the verbal gift said to have been made at the time of the marriage of Kamala Devi and the acceptance of such a gift by Nand Lal father in law of Kamala Devi
In dealing with the oral evidence on this question the learned Judges have said If we leave out of account for the present the evidence of Sumitra Devi and Bijoy as also of Kamal who has been contradicted on a very material point by the other witnesses and also Nand Lal father of Bijoy we are left with Parasuram and Rash Behary
Parasuram a tenant happens to be present at the psychological moment only for a few minutes when the Sankalpa is being made
 The High Court clearly made a mistake in dealing with the evidence of Parasuram Sharma and confused Parasuram Sharma witness No 16 with Pashupati Sarkar witness No 10
Pashupathi Sarkar was a tenant of Sumitra Devi and it was his evidence that he went to 462 the place of marriage at about 12 midnight or 1 am and stayed there for two minutes only and then came away
Parasuram Sharma witness No 16 was not a tenant of Sumitra Devi
He was the Head Master of the Indian HE School at Patna a school where Bijoy husband of Kamala was a pupil for two years
This Head Master said that he attended the marriage as a member of the bridegroom s party and was present when from behind the purdah Sumitra Devi made a sankalpa of the gift of four houses this was con veyed by Ganapati Sastri who recited mantras and was accepted by Nand Lal
It is unfortunate that the High Court confused Parasuram Sharma witness No 16 with Pashupati Sarkar witness No 10 with the result that Parasuram Sharma s evidence was not properly considered by the High Court
This defect in the consideration of the evidence by the High Court is undoubtedly there
The point for consideration is if this is a Sufficient ground for departure from the ordinary rule of this Court not to go behind the findings of fact arrived at by the Courts below
Though the mistake made is unfortunate we do not think that it is sufficient to disturb the finding of the Courts below or even to re open the finding at this stage
It is worthy of note that the learned Subordinate Judge made no mistake about Pashupati and Parasuram
He pointed out that the witnesses examined on behalf of the appellants with regard to the verbal gift at the time of the marriage and its acceptance by Nand Lal were mostly interested witnesses and none of them were really independent
Even Parasuram Sharma whose evidence has been placed before us by learned counsel for the appellants cannot be said to be completely independent
He was invited to attend the marriage as a member of the bridegroom s party and he said that he Overheard Sumitra Devi saying that she was making a sankalpa of the gift of four houses as promised evidence which is not of a very satisfactory nature
There were many other criticisms of the evidence regarding the verbal gift at the time of the marriage the learned Judges of the High Court have referred to these criticisms and they accepted some of them One 463 of the criticisms which greatly weighed with the learned Subordinate Judge was the absence of any reference to the gift of four houses in contemporaneous Court proceedings with regard to the withdrawal of Rs 10000 by Sumitra Devi the sum which was set apart by the partition decree for the marriage expenses of Kamala Devi
This criticism was not however fully accepted by the learned Judges of the High Court who placed greater reliance on the evidence of Rai Saheb Jogendra Nath Roy witness No 14 who was the most respectable and reliable witness examined on behalf of the appellants
The evidence of this witness supported the evidence of Sumitra Devi with regard to the promise made regarding the gift of four Asansol houses at the time of the settlement of marriage negotiations at Deoghar
There can be no doubt that Rai Saheb Jogendra Nath Roy was a very respectable witness and had no reasons to tell lies
Though he supported that part of the evidence of Sumitra Devi which related to the promise of a gift of four houses at Asansol at the time of the marriage negotiations at Deoghar he made no statement about a verbal gift having been made at the time of the marriage itself
The witness said that he went to Sumitra Devi s house on the evening of the marriage and stayed for fifteen to twenty five minutes only
He further said that he was not present at the time of the marriage ceremony
It may therefore be that Rai Saheb Jogendra Nath Roy was not present at the time when the verbal gift was alleged to have been made
By far and large the learned Judges of the High Court did examine with care the oral evidence with regard to the alleged verbal gift at the time of the marriage and but for the unfortunate confusion between Parasuram Sharma and Pashupati Sarkar we do not think that the considerstion of the oral evidence by the High Court is open to any other serious criticism
The learned Judges rightly pointed out a serious discrepancy which existed between the evidence of Kamal Narayan Pandey witness No 8 who is said to have acted as the priest for the marriage and the evidence of other witnesses with regard to the lagan or time 6o 60 464 of marriage
Taking all these circumstances into con sideration we do not think that we shall be justified in going behind the finding of the Courts below that la the appellants had failed to prove by satisfactory evidence that MstSumitra Devi made a verbal gift of the four houses in question at the time of the marriage of her daughter Kamala Devi and that such a gift was accepted by Nand Lal on behalf of his minor daughterin law
In view of this finding the question as to whether the gift was again confirmed at the time of the Gowna ceremony does not really arise
There can be no confirmation of an act which did not itself take place
As the appellants have impeached the finding of the Courts below with regard to the verbal gift said to have been made at the time of the marriage the respondents have also impeached before us the finding of the High Court about an ante nuptial agreement said to have been made at Deoghar
It has been contended by learned counsel for the respondents that there were no compelling reasons for the High Court which was the appellate Court to differ from the appreciation of the oral evidence by the learned Subordinate Judge who had the advantage of seeing the witnesses with regard to the question of the ante nuptial agreement said to have been made at Deoghar
It is true that the learned Subordinate Judge did not accept the evidence of the witnesses who testified to the terms of settlement of the marriage negotiations at Deoghar
What tipped the scale in favour of the finding arrived at by the High Court on this point was the evidence of Rai Sahib Jogendra Nath Roy witness No 14
The learned Subordinate Judge gave certain reasons for not accepting the evidence of this witness
The learned Judges of the High Court considered those reasons very carefully and rightly pointed out that there were no good grounds for thinking that Rai Saheb Jogendra Nath Roy had fallen a victim to lapse of memory or for holding that he was an interested witness
The evidence of Rai Sabeb Jogendra Nath Roy was considered in the context of contemporaneous Court proceedings for the withdrawal of Rs 10000 and the learned Judges 465 of the High Court accepted the explanation which Rai Saheb Jogendra Nath Roy gave for not mentioning the promise of a gift of four houses in Asansol in the application which Sumitra Devi made for the withdrawal of the said sum of Rs 10000
In our opinion the finding of the High Court as to an ante nuptial agreement for the gift of four houses at Asansol worth about Rs 20000 is not vitiated by any error of fact or law
That finding must therefore be accepted as a correct finding even though the learned Subordinate Judge came to a contrary conclusion with regard to it
Having disposed of the contentions of fact urged before us we proceed now to a consideration of the contentions of law
It may be convenient to dispose of first the argument somewhat faintly advanced on behalf of the appellants that even prior to the enactment of the  Sumitra Devi had an absolute right of disposal in the share allotted to her on partition in 1933 36 under Mitakshara law
The question whether the share allotted to a mother on partition is stridhan or not according to the Benares school was left open by their Lordships of the Privy Council in Bhugwandeen Doobey vs Myna Baee1 the very case in which they held that property inherited by a woman was not stridhan according to the Mitakshara
In Debi Mangal Prasad Singh vs Mahadeo Prasad Singh 2 the Allahabad High Court after a review of all the authorities on the subject held that it was stridhan  but the Privy Council held that it stood on the same footing as property inherited by a woman and that it was not stridhan
The actual point decided in Debi Mangal Prasad s case was that there was no substantial difference in principle between a woman s property acquired by inheritance and that acquired by partition
It is worthy of note that the partition decree proceeded on the footing that Sumitra Devi would be entitled to the income from the properties allotted to her but should not be in a position to prejudice the reversioners by destroying the corpus
The preliminary decree for partition stated The Commissioner is further directed to allot as little liquid 1 1863 MIA487514
2 1912 L R 39 IA 121
466 cash to the share of plaintiff No 2 Sumitra Devi as possible on partition and as a rule should allot such properties to her share of which she may receive income without trouble but may not prejudice the reversioners by destroying the corpus 
It follows therefore that under the Mitakshara law and also under the partition decree Mst
Sumitra Devi did not have an absolute right or interest in the share allotted to her on partition
Under the decision in Debi Mangal Prasad Singh vs Mahadeo Prasad Singh 1 the property allotted to Mst
Sumitra Devi on partition stood on the same footing as property inherited by her from her husband
She had no absolute right of disposal of the property
This brings us to a consideration of the principal point argued before us on behalf of the appellants namely whether Sumitra Devi was competent to make a gift of a reasonable portion of the estate of her husband to her daughter Kamala Devi as a marriage dowry in pursuance and fulfilment of an ante nuptial agreement even though the gift was made some two years after the marriage ceremony
This point was urged before us as we have already stated prior to and irrespective of the enactment of the 
The argument of learned counsel for the appellants was that Sumitra Devi was competent to make such a gift under the Hindu law even as it stood prior to the enactment of the 
We shall therefore deal with this point irrespective of the provisions of section 14 of the 
It may be stated at the very outset that the concurrent finding of the Courts below was that the gift of four houses at Asansol of a value of about Rs 19000 was not disproportionate or unreasonable if one had regard to the large extent of properties left by Rain Kishori Lal Sao on his death this was so even taking into consideration the sum of Rs 10000 which was set apart for the marriage expenses of Kamala Devi and which was withdrawn by Sumitra Devi
In our opinion that finding is correct and must be accepted as such
Therefore the narrow question is if Sumitra Deviwas competent to make the gift of four houses at 1 1912 LR 39 IA 121
467 Asansol as marriage dowry to her daughter some two years after the marriage in pursuance and fulfilment of the ante nuptial agreement made at Deoghar
There are a number of decisions bearing on the question to which our attention has been drawn by learned counsel for the parties and we propose now to examine some of them
In Sardar Singh vs Kunj Behari Lal 1 it was observed There can be no doubt upon a review of the Hindu law taken in conjunction with the decided cases that the Hindu system recognises two sets of religious acts
One is in connection with the actual obsequies of the deceased and the periodical performance of the obsequial rites prescribed in the Hindu religious law which are considered as essential for the salvation of the soul of the deceased
The other relates to acts which although not essential or obligatory are still pious observances which conduce to the bliss of the deceased s soul
In the later cases this distinction runs clearly through the views of the learned judges  
With reference to the first class of acts the powers of the Hindu female who holds the property are wider than in respect of the acts which are simply pious and if performed are meritorious so far as they conduce to the spiritual benefit of the deceased
In one case if the income of the property or the property itself is not sufficient to cover the expenses she is entitled to sell the whole of it
In the other case she can alienate a small portion of the property for the pious or charitable purpose she may have in view
 In a very early decision Cossi Naut Bysack vs Hurroo Soondry Dossee 2 which war heard by the Supreme Court at Calcutta in 1819 and by the Judicial Committee in 1826 and quoted in Churaman Sahu vs Gopi Sahu 3 it was stated by Lord Gifford that a Hindu widow had  for certain purposes a clear authority to dispose of her husband s property and might do it for religious purposes including dowry to a daughter
 There are several texts which lay down that it is the imperative religious duty and a moral obligation of a father mother or other guardian to give a girl in marriage 1 1922 L R 49 IA 383 391
2 2 Morley s Digest 198
3 Cal
468 before she attains puberty
Some of these texts have been quoted in Churaman Sahu s case1 and Ram Sumran Prasad vs Gobind Das 2
According to these texts the marriage of a girl by her father is enjoined as a religious duty in order to prevent him from being degraded and visited with sin  there is also direct spiritual benefit conferred upon him by such a marriage
Marriage according to the Sastras is a religious act a Sanskara for a man or woman
According to Manu Chapter 11 verse 67 the sacrament of marriage is to a female what initiation with the thread is to a male
The Mitakshara also recognises marriage as a religious obligation for both male and female Sundrabai Javji Dagdu Pardeshi vs Shivnarayana Ridkarna 3
The texts also recognise that gifts can be made at the time of or on the occasion of the marriage or any ceremonies connected therewith and may also be made in fulfilment of a promise made in connection with the marriage some decisions have gone to the extent of laying down that the moral obligation continues till it is discharged or fulfilled and such fulfilment may be subsequent to the marriage see Mitakshara Chapter 1 section VII Placitum 5 to 14
In Placitum 9 is quoted Manu s text To the maiden sisters let their brothers give portions out of their own allotments respectively to each the fourth part of the appropriate share and they who refuse to give it shall be degraded
Vengidusami Ayyar 4 it was observed with reference to the aforesaid passages in the Mitakshara and also to certain passagein the Smriti Chandrika wherein the texts of Manu Yajnavalkya and other Smriti writers dealing with the question of 1 Cal 1 7 2 Pat 646 681
3 Bom
4 Mad113 114
469 allotment to be made by brothers to their maiden sisters at the time of partition were commented upon that with regard to the true meaning of those texts commentators were divided some of them held that all that the texts mean is that funds required for the marriage of sisters should be provided out of their father s estate but other commentators Vijnaneswara among them laid down that inclusive of their marriage expenses sisters were entitled to a provision not exceeding a fourth of what they would have got had they been males
It was further observed therein that it was not necessary to decide which of the two views was to be taken as law
Subramania Ayyar J then said Assuming that as argued for the appellant the view advocated by Vijnaneswara and his followers is not law the fact that so high an authority as the author of the Mitakshara propounds a rule thus favourable to maiden daughters ought to make one hesitate to accept as sound the exceedingly limited construction which was insisted on on behalf of the appellant and which can scarcely be said to be in itself very reasonable viz that the texts justify a disbursement out of the estate of only the price of things required in connection with the celebration of the marriage
In my opinion the better and sounder view is as contended for the respondents that the authorities should be Understood to empower a qualified owner like Thaiyyu Ammal to do all acts proper and incidental to the marriage of a female according to the general practice of the community to which she belongs
 It should be noted that the observations aforesaid were made in a case where a widow gave her daughter in marriage and at the time of the marriage made a gift of a portion of the lands inherited by her from her husband to  her son in law and the question was if the widow Thaiyyu Ammal who was a Hindu qualified owner had authority to make such a gift
In Kudutamma vs Narasimha Charyulu 1 the brother as managing member of the joint family made a gift of a reasonable portion of the joint family Properties to his sisters
The sisters were married in 1  531 532470 the father s lifetime but were left for some reason or other without a marriage portion
The gift was made after the father s death and subsequent to the marriage
It was held that the brother had authority to make the gift
Miller J observed If then a brother finding that his sister though married in his father s lifetime has been for any reason left without a marriage portion which she ought to have received it is difficult to see how he can be held to have exceeded his powers if he makes good the deficiency out of the family property
We are not required to hold that he is bound to do so we are not required to hold that his father was bound in law to give his daughter anything at her marriage it is only necessary for us to hold that the gift is not in excess of the powers of the brother and cannot therefore be recalled by him or avoided by his son
 Wallis J who concurred in the judgment observed In such a case there was I think a strong moral obligation on the joint family over the father as managing member to make a gift out of the joint family property on the occasion of the marriages either to the girls themselves or to their husbands as a provision for them and the fact that the father maintained both the daughters and their husbands out of the joint family property until his death may be regarded as a continuing recognition of such moral obligation
Mere neglect on the part of the joint family to fulfil a moral obligation at the time of the marriages cannot in my opinion be regarded as putting an end to it and I think it continued until it was discharged by the deed of gift now sued on and executed after the father s death by his son the 1st defendant who succeeded him as managing member of the joint family
 In Churaman Sahu s case 1 the gift was no doubt made on the occasion of the daughter s gowna ceremony which took place some two years after the marriage and it was held that the gowns ceremony was a ceremony of importance closely connected with the marriage though it was not a ceremony necessary to complete the marriage
The gift was upheld on that footing
What is worthy of note however is 1 CalI 7 471 that in Churaman Sahu s case1 the decision in Kudutamma vs Narasimha Charyulu 2 was approved and that was a decision in which the gift was made subsequent to the marriage and not on the occasion of any particular ceremony
Sundararamayya vs Sitamma 3 is another decision of some importance
There the marriage took place about forty years before the gift and there was no evidence that the father had any intention to give any property at the time of the marriage
The question was if in those circumstances the gift was valid
After referring to the decision in Churaman Sahu vs Gopi Sahu 1 and Ramasami Ayyar vs Vengidusami Ayyar 4 it was observed We see no reason to differ from these two decisions
The father or the widow is not bound to giver any property
There may be no legal but only a moral obligation
But it is difficult to see why the moral obligation does not sustain a gift because it was not made to the daughter at the time of marriage but only some time later
The moral obligation of the plaintiff s father continued in force till it was discharged by the gift in 1899
 The learned Judges referred with approval to the earlier decision in Kudutamma vs Narasimha Charyulu 2
It was observed that no hard and fast rule could be laid down to define the extent and limit of the widow s power of disposing of the property inherited by her for the marriage of her daughter
The decision of the same case when it went up in Letters Patent appeal is reported as Bhagwati Shukul vs Ram Jatan Tewari 6
The decision of the single judge was upheld on the 1 Cal
4 Mad 113 113
2  531 532
5 AIR 1922 All 381
3 Mad
628 629 6 All 297
61 472 ground that in order to get the girl married it was  a sheer necessity  for the widow to provide a dowry of Rs 500 or its equivalent by the gift of the property
The property was very small in value being in the neighbourhood of Rs 500 only and where under the circumstances the marriage of the girl into a suitable Brahmin family having regard to her blindness and infirmity necessitated the spending of the equivalent in value of that property then the alienation was a  sheer legal necessity
What is reasonable must depend on the facts and circumstances of each case
In Vettor Ammal vs Pooch Ammal 1 the gift was made some years after the marriage
The gift was upheld and was held to be reasonable being about one sixth of the whole property
In Sailabala vs Baikuntha Nath 2 a gift made by a widow of twelve annas share of her husband s estate on the occasion of the marriage of her daughter was supported on the ground that it was impossible to define the extent and limit of the widow s power of disposing of property inherited by her because it must depend upon the circumstances of the disposition whenever such disposition was made
The gift was made in pursuance of an earlier promise and a verbal declaration made at the time of the Gantha Pakrai catching hold of the skirt of the mother in law performed during the marriage
The only limitation placed upon this power of making a gift is that it should bear a reasonable proportion to the entire property of the deceased father and that it should be justifiable in the circumstances of the case in terms of the principle laid down in Cossi Naut Bysack vs Hurroosoondry Dossee 1 
In Sithamahalakshmamma vs kotayya 2 Mr Justice Venkataramana Rao summarised the case law in the following words  Thus it will be seen that it is competent to a Hindu father to make a gift of a reasonable portion of the ancestral imoveable property to his daughters without reference to the son It is a power vested in the father under the Hindu law which he can exercise subject to the restriction of limitations imposed on him by the said law
The decided cases have held that the gift must be a reasonable one
The question whether a particular gift is reasonable or not will have to be judged according to the state of the family at the time of the gift the extent of the family immoveable property the indebtedness of the family and the paramount charges which the family was under an obligation to provide for and after having regard to those circumstances if the gift can be held to be reasonable such a gift will be binding on the joint family members irrespective of the consent of the members of the family If under the law it is a moral obligation on the family to make a provision as and by way of a marriage portion and such obligation continues until it is fulfilled by a reasonable provision being made therefor the fact that one of the sons has become indebted cannot take away the power of the father to make such a gift
In Pratap Kunwar vs Raj Bahadur Singh 3the marriage took 1 2 Morley s Digest 198
3 AIR 1943 Oudh 316
2 ALR  827 474 place
in 1923 and the gift was made in 1926
After held that examining the evidence the learned Judges Mst
Raj Ruer the widow in question did not make any sankalpa of the gift of fifteen villages at the on behalf of the time of her daughter s marriage
On behalf of the plaintiff it was argued before them that a Hindu widow could make a gift of her husband s immoveable property v at the time of her marriage
The learned Judges repelled this contention and held that the gift made by Mst
Raj Kuer in favour of her daughter and son in law was valid even though she did not make a  sankalpa vs at the time of marriage
In Abhesang Tirabhai vs Raisang1  it was held that gifts by a Hindu widow on the occasion of her daughter s marriage are valid as they are understood in Hindu law to conduce to the spiritual benefit of the widow s husband
In Ramalinga annavi vs Narayana Annavi2 a father a made a gift to his daughter of a sum of Rs 5000 and a usufructuary mortgage
As against the very large number of decisions refered to above the only decision which can be said to strike a dissentient note is the decision in ganga Bisheshar vs Pirthi Pal3
That was a case in which one Debi Prasad executed a deed of gift of a certain share in a certain village being the ancestral property of his family in favour of the defendant ganga Bisheshar the father in law of his daughter on April 25 1872 about two years after the marriage of the daughter
Mr Justice Spankie observed as follows I understand the finding of both the lower Courts to be that the transfer was not made for any necessary purpose allowed by the Hindu law
The deed of gift appears to have been made by the father in performance of a a dowry to his daughter
L R 602
3 All 635 638
475 tinder the Hindu law
It was not necessary for the support of the daughter it was not for any religious or pious work nor was it a pressing necessity
Daughters must be maintained until their marriage and the expenses of their marriage must be paid
But in this case the gift was not made at the time of the marriage
It was not executed until two years after the marriage
 There is no consideration nor any discussion of the texts bearing on the question and the learned Judge did not consider the alienation from the point of view that the marriage of the daughter was a religious duty and the promise to make a gift to the daughter as her marriage portion created a moral or religious obligation in fulfilment of which it was competent for the father to execute a deed of gift in favour of the daughter of a reasonable portion of the estate
On an examination of the decisions referred to above the following principles clearly emerge 1 It is the imperative religious duty and a moral obligation of a father mother or other guardian to give a girl in marriage to a suitable husband it is a duty which must be fulfilled to prevent degradation and direct spiritual benefit is conferred upon the father by such a marriage
2 A Hindu widow in possession of the estate of her deceased husband can make an alienation for religious acts which are not essential or obligatory but are still pious observances which conduce to the bliss of the deceased husband s soul
3 In the case of essential or obligatory acts if the income of the property or the property itself is not sufficient to cover the expenses she is entitled to sell the whole of it but for acts which are pious and which conduce to the bliss of the deceased husband s soul she can alienate a reasonable portion of the property
4 Gifts by a widow of landed property to her daughter or son in law on the occasion of the marriage or any ceremonies connected with the marriage are well recognised in Hindu law
5 If a promise is made of such a gift for or at the time of the marriage that promise may be fulfilled afterwards and it is not essential to make a gift at the time of the marriage but it may be made afterwards in fulfilment of the promise
6 Some decisions 476 go to the length of holding that there is a moral or religious obligation of giving a portion of the joint family property for the benefit of the daughter and the son in law and a gift made long after the marriage may be supported upon the ground that the gift when made fulfils that moral or religious obligation
In the case before us it is not even necessary to go to the extent to which the decisions covered by the last item stated above item 6 have gone
The finding of the final Court of fact is that there was an antenuptial agreement by Sumitra Devi that she would give four houses at Asansol of the value of Rs 20000 to her daughter as marriage dowry
It was open to Sumitra Devi to fulfil that promise as a religious act which conferred spiritual benefit upon her deceased husband irrespective of the consideration whether she made a  sankalpa  at the time of the marriage or not
The learned Judges of the High Court referred to section 123 of the Transfer of Property Act which lays down that for the purpose of making a gift of immoveable property the transfer must be effected by a registered instrument signed by or on behalf of the donor and attested by at least two witnesses
In one part of their judgment they said that but for the aforesaid provisions it might have been possible to consider the gift as having been made on the occasion of the marriage the implementation of which was subsequent
In our opinion the learned Judges of the High Court were in error with regard to the scope and effect of section 123 of the Transfer of Property Act
Section 123 does not deal with nor does it affect the power of a Hindu widow to make an alienation of a reasonable portion of her husband s estate in favour of the daughter as marriage dowry
That right is governed by Hindu law and it is open to a widow to make an effective gift in favour of her daughter 477 subsequent to the marriage if the conditions laid down by Hindu law are fulfilled
For the reasons given above we hold that the alienation made by Mst
Sumitra Devi in favour of her daughter Kamala Devi on March 10 1940 was valid and binding on the reversioners
The decision of the High Court to the contrary was erroneous in law
We now turn to the  which came into force on June 17 1956
Explanation
In this sub section I property  includes both moveable and immoveable property acquired by a female Hindu by inheritance or devise or at a partition or in lieu of maintenance or arrears of maintenance or by gift from any person whether a relative or not before at or after her marriage or by her own skill or exertion or by purchase or by prescription or in any other manner whatsoever and also any such property held by her as stridhana immediately before the commencement of this Act
2 Nothing contained in sub section 1 shall apply to any property acquired by way of gift or under a will or any other instrument or under a decree or order of a civil court or under an award where the terms of the gift will or other instrument or the decree order or award prescribe a restricted estate in such property  There is no doubt that by reason of the use of the expression  whether acquired before or after the commencement of this Act  the section is retrospective in effect
The Explanation to the section shows that property  includes immoveable property acquired by a female Hindu at a partition or by gift from any person whether a relative or not before at or after her marriage
The argument of learned counsel for the appellants is two fold
He has contended 478 that the four houses in question are now in the possession of Kamala Devi and under section 14 Kamala Devi is a full owner of the houses the plaintiffs respondents cannot therefore get the declaration which they have asked for
Alternatively he has contended that if Sumitra Devi is still in possession of the houses she also becomes a full owner and in that event also the plaintiffs respondents are not entitled to the reliefs claimed
Learned counsel for the respondents has relied on sub section 2 of B 14 which says that nothing in sub section
1 shall apply to any property acquired by way of gift etc where the terms of the instrument or decree etc prescribe a restricted estate in such property
It is argued that Sumitra Devi got a restricted estate by the partition decree and sub section
1 has no application to that estate
It is further argued that Kamala Devi as donee could not get a larger estate than what the donlor had in the property if the view of Hindu law as contended for by learned counsel for the respondents is accepted as correct therefore Kamal Devi is not entitled to the benefit of sub section1 of section 14
We do not think that it is necessary to decide this case on the rival contentions presented to us with regard to a 14 of the 
We have already held that under Hindu law Mat
Sumitra Devi could make a gift in favour of her daughter as marriage
dowry two years after the marriage in fulfilment of the ante nuptial promise made by her and that
such a gift is binding on the reversioners
That being the position it is unnecessary to decide in this case the true scope and effect of section 14 of the 
For the reasons given above we allow the appeal and set aside the judgment and decree of the Courts below
The suit of the plaintiffs respondents must be dismissed and the appellants will be entitled to their costs throughout


Summary:
In fulfilment of an ante nuptial promise made on the occasion of the settlement of the terms of marriage of her daughter a Hindu widow governed by the Benares School of Hindu Law executed a registered deed of gift in respect Of 4 houses allotted to her share by a partition decree in favour of her daughter as her marriage dowry about two years after the marriage
The partition decree gave her a right to the income but no right to part with the corpus of the property to the prejudice of the reversioners
Her step sons brought a suit for a declaration that the deed of gift was void and inoperative beyond her lifetime and could not bind the reversioners
The trial court found that the gifted properties constituted a reasonable portion of the estate but that the gift not having been made at 453 the time of the marriage or on the occasion of the Gowna Dwiragaman ceremony in accordance with the provisions of section I 23 Of the Transfer of Property Act was not binding on the reversioners beyond the lifetime of the widow and decreed the suit
The High Court found that the widow had made the ante nuptial promise but that the gift having been made about two years after the marriage or the Gowna ceremony the provisions of the Transfer of Property Act relating to gifts stood in the way of considering the same as having been made on the occasion of the marriage but implemented later and affirmed the decision of the trial court although the gifted houses were found to constitute a reasonable portion of her husband s estate
The contentions in appeal on behalf of the widow and the daughter were 1 that the widow had the power in Hindu Law as it stood before the enactment of the  to execute the deed of gift in question and 2 that section 14 Of the said Act bad the effect of making them full owners of the property in suit
Held that the deed of gift in favour of the daughter was valid in law and binding on the reversioners and the appeal must succeed
Under the Benares School of Hindu Law as it stood prior to the enactment of the  as also under the partition decree the properties allotted to the widow constituted her widow s estate as on inheritance and she had no absolute right of disposal over them
Bhugwandeen Doobey vs Myna Baee 1868 II M 1
A 487 referred to
Debi Mangal Prasad Singh vs Mahadeo Prasad Singh 1912 L R 39 1
A 121 followed
In Hindu Law the marriage of a daughter is a pious act and confers direct spiritual benefit on the father and a widow has the power to make a gift of a reasonable portion of her husband s estate as marriage dowry to the daughter even after the marriage in fulfilment of an ante nuptial promise whether she makes the I sankalpa  at the time of the marriage or not
Ganga Bisheshar vs Pirthi Pal 1880 1
L R 2 All 635 disapproved
Case law reviewed
This power of the widow is one conferred on her by Hindu Law and is not affected by the provisions of section 123 of the Transfer of Property Act though the gift to be legally effective must be made in the manner prescribed by that section
Although there is no doubt that sub section
1 Of section 14 Of the  gives a retrospective operation to the provisions of that section so as to make a fermale Hindu a 454 full owner of immoveable property acquired either at a partition or by way of gift it is not necessary in the present case to examine the true nature and scope of section 14 Of the Act