Appeal No 21 of 1965
Appeal by special leave from the judgment and decree dated March 15 1961 of the Allahabad High Court in Second Appeal No 2434 of 1960
NC Chatterjee E C Agarwala Kartar Singh and PC Agarwala for the appellants
J P Goyal and B P Jha for the respondents
477 The Judgment of the Court was delivered by Shah J
Hukam Singh and Sukhram the first appellant in this appeal were two brothers
Chidda the second appellant is the son of Sukhram Hukam Singh Sukhram and Chidda consti tuted a Hindu joint family and were governed by the Mitakshara Law of the Benares School
Hukam Singh died in 1952 leaving him surviving his wife Kishan Devi
On December 15 1956 Kishan Devi sold a half share in a house and a shop belonging to the joint family to Gauri Shankar
Sukhram and his son Chidda then commenced an action in the Court of the Munsif of Ghaziabad for a decree declaring that the sale by Kishan Devi to Gauri Shankar was without consideration and for an order cancelling the sale deed
The suit was dismissed by the Court of First Instance the District Court Meerut and the High Court of Allahabad
In this appeal the only question which falls to be determined is whether the sale deed executed by Kishan Devi was binding upon the coparceners of her husband
On the death of Hukam Singh in 1952 it is common ground Kishan Devi acquired by virtue of section 32 of the Hindu Women s Right to Property Act 18 of 1937 the same interest in the property of the joint family which Hukam Singh had
That interest was limited interest known as the Hindu Woman s estate  section 33 of the Hindu Women s Right to Property Act 1937
The Parliament enacted The 30 of 1956 which by section 141 provided that Any property possessed by a female Hindu whether acquired before or after the commencement of this Act shall be held by her as full owner thereof and not as a limited owner
 The plea raised in the District Court that Kishan Devi was not possessed of the property which she sold to Gauri Shankar was rejected and has not been set up before us
Clearly therefore on the express words of section 141 of the  Kishan Devi acquired on June 17 1956 rights of full ownership in the interest which Hukam Singh had in the property of the family during his life time and she was competent without the consent of the male members of the family to sell the property for her own purposes
But Mr Chatterjee for the appellants submits that under the Benares School of the Mitakshara a male coparcener is not entitled to alienate even for value his undivided interest in coparcenary property without the consent of the other coparceners unless the alienation be for legal necessity or if the coparcener is the father for payment by him of his antecedent debts which are not illegal or avvavaharika and it could not have been intended by Parliament to confer upon a widow in a Hindu family a larger right than the right which the surviving coparceners could exercise at the date of the sale by the widow
Counsel says that the Parliament by Act 30 478 of 1956 merely intended to confer upon a Hindu widow rights of full ownership in the interest in property in which she had prior to that Act only a limited interest but did not intend to destroy the essential character of joint family property so as to invest the widow with power to alienate that interest without the assent of the coparceners of her husband
It is true that under the Benares school of the Mitakshara a caparcener may not without the consent of the other coparceners sell his undivided share in the family estate for his own benefit Madho Parshad vs Mehrban Singh1 Balgobind Das vs Narain Lal and Ors
2 and Chandradeo
Singh  Ors
vs Mata Prasad  Anr
3 But the words of section 14 of the are express and explicit thereby a female Hindu possessed of property whether ac quired before or after the commencement of the Act holds it as full owner and not as a limited owner
The interest to which Kishan Devi became entitled on the death of her husband under section 32 of the Hindu Women s Right to Property Act 1937 in the property of the joint family is indisputably her property within the meaning of section 14 of Act 30 of 1956 and when she became full owner of that property she acquired a right unlimited in point of user and duration and uninhibited in point of disposition
We are unable to agree with Mr Chatterjee that restrictions on the right of the male members of a Hindu joint family form the bed rock on which the law relating to joint family property under the Hindu Law is founded
Under the Law of the Mitakshara as administered in the territory governed by the Maharashtra and the Madras Schools and even in the State of Madhya Pradesh a Hindu coparcener is competent to alienate for value his undivided interest in the entire joint family property or any specific property without the assent of his coparceners
A male member of a Hindu family governed by the Benaras School of Hindu Law is undoubtedly subject to restrictions qua alienation of his interest in the joint family property but a widow acquiring an interest in that property by virtue of the is not subject to any such restrictions
That is however not a ground for importing limitations which the Parliament has not chosen to impose
On the death of her husband Kishan Devi became entitled to the same interest which Hukam Singh had in the joint family property of that interest she became full owner on June 17 1956 and being full owner she was competent to sell that interest for her own purposes without the consent of the male coparceners of her husband
The appeal therefore fails and is dismissed with costs
RKPS Appeal dismissed
1 LR 17 IA 194
2 LR 20 IA 116
3 ILR 31 All
176 FB


Summary:
The first appellant his brother H and his son the second appellant constituted a Hindu Joint family and were governed by the Mitakshara law of the Benares School
He died in 1952 leaving him surviving his widow
On December 15 1956 the widow sold a half share in a house and a shop belonging to the joint family to the first respondent
The appellants filed a suit for a decree declaring that the sale by the widow was without consideration and for an order can celling the sale deed
The suit was dismissed by the Trial Court and in appeal by the High Court
In appeal to this Court it was contended on behalf of the appellants that under the Benares School of the Mitakshara a male coparcener is not entitled to alienate even for value his undivided interest in coparcenary property without the consent of the other coparceners except in certain specified cases and by section 141 of the Hindu Succession Act 30 of 1956 it could not have been intended to confer a larger right on the widow of a coparcener
HELD On the death of her husband the widow became entitled to the same interest which H had in the joint family property under s32 of the Hindu Women s Right to Property Act 18 of 1937 in the joint family property of that interest by virtue of s141 of the  she became full owner on June 17 1956 and being full owner she was competent to sell it for her own purpose without the consent of the male coparceners of her husband
477D G A male member of a Hindu family governed by the
Benares School of Hindu Law is undoubtedly subject to restrictions qua alienation of his interest in the joint family property
but a widow acquiring an interest in that property by virtue of the is not subject to any such restrictions
That is however not a ground for importing limitations which the Parliament has not chosen to impose
478F Madho Parshad vs Mehrban Singh LR 17 IA 194 Balgobind Das vs Narain Lal and Ors
LR 20 IA 116 and Chandradeo Singh  Ors
vs Mata Prasad  Anr
TLR 31 All
176 FB referred to