Civil Appeal No 824 of 1968
Appeal by Special Leave from the Judgment and order dated the 23 8 1967 of the Allahabad High Court in Civil Misc
Review application No 32 of 1966 in SA 435765
J P Goyal for the Appellant
V section Desai and V N Ganpule for Respondent No 1
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by SARKARIA J
The following pedigree table illustrates the relationship of the parties Hira LalSmt
Naraini Devi plaintiff
died in 1925
Kapoor Chand Nemi Chand Chandra Bhan died in 1954 Judgment debtor died in 1930 Smt
Ramo Devi extinct Respondent 1 Decree holder
5 L390 SCI76 56 Smt
Ramo Devi widow of Kapur Chand shown in the above pedigree table obtained a money decree against her husband s brother Nemi Chand
In execution of her decree she got attached one half share in the double storeyed House No 4416 situated at Agra representing it to be of the judgment debtor
Naraini Devi widow of Hira Lal filed an objection petition under 021 r 58 Code of Civil Procedure against that attachment claiming the house to be her property
That objection was dismissed by the executing court on the 16th July 1962
Thereafter she filed a suit under 021 r 63 Code 11 of Civil Procedure to establish her claim
The suit was decreed by the trial court
On appeal the District Judge reversed the judgment t and dismissed the suit
Naraini Devi s second appeal was summarily dismissed by the High Court
She filed a review petition which was rejected by the High Court on August 23 1967
Hence this appeal by special leave
i It is common ground between the parties that under a registered J award dated January 4 1946 the plaintiff Smt
Naraini Devi was given a life interest in the house in dispute
The appellant s contention is that her limited interest in the house was enlarged into that of a full owner by the operation of sub section
1 of section 14 of the Hindu Succession Act
As against this the respondents maintain that her case falls under sub section
2 of section 14
The question thus turns on a construction of the award exhibit 2
We have examined an English rendering of this document filed by the appellant the correctness of which is not disputed by the respondent
This award states in clear unmistakable terms that she Naraini Devi would be entitled to the rent of this house in lieu of maintenance for her life time and after her death her sons Kapoor Chand and Nemi Chand will be owners of half share each of this house
This award further partitions this house between Kapoor Chand and Nemi Chand and allots specific portions thereof to the two brothers
A part of this house was in the occupation of a tenant at Rs 32 per month
Naraini Devi was given a right to get that rent
A part of it was in the personal occupation of Kapoor Chand
The award protects and assures his right of remaining in possession of the same
A reading of this document as a whole leaves little doubt that the only interest in this house created in favour of the widow was that she would be entitled to its rent and no more for her life time
Thus the award confers on her only a restricted estate in the house within the meaning of sub section
2 of section 14 which says 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 restrict ed estate in such property Mr Goyal however submits that her case would fall within this Court s ruling in Badri Prasad vs Smt
Kanan Devi1 according to 1  57 which if the widow has a pre existing right in the property then the A case will fall under sub section
1 and sub section 2 which is in the nature of a proviso to sub section 1 of section 14 will not be attracted
The rule in Badri Prasad s case supra is not applicable here
Ill that case the widow had acquired a share in the property by virtue of the Hindu Women s Right to Property Act 1937 on the death of her husband which took place after the coming into operation of that Act
In the present case Smt
Naraini Devi s husband died in 1925
In the presence of her sons the widow did not get any share or interest in the house left by her husband under the Hindu Law as then applicable
In short she had no pre existing right or interest in the house in question
It was the award dated January 4 1946 that created a restricted estate for her in the house in question
Her case thus falls squarely within the ambit of sub section
2 of section 14 of the Hindu Succession Act
Her interest therefore came to an end on her death which took place during the pendency of these proceedings
For reasons aforesaid the appeal fails and is dismissed with no order as to costs


Summary:
N  a widow of H  who under the Hindu law then applicable and in the presence of her three sons did not get any share or interest in the house left by her late husband and therefore got a life interest by virtue of a registered award filed 3 suit under order 21 Rule 63 CPC to establish her claim to the property that had been attached in execution of the decree against her second son obtained by her eldest daughter in law N s suit was decreed by the trial Court
The first appellate court reversed that decree
The second appeal and he review in the High Court failed
On appeal by special leave rejecting the contention that the appellants limited interest was enlarged into that of a full owner by the operation of sub sec
I of Section 14 of the Hindu Succession Act the Court  HELD I A reading of the award as a whole leaves little doubt that the only interest in the house created in favour of the widow was that she would be entitled to its rent and no more for her life time
56 F 2 In the present case the appellant did not get any share or interest in the house left by her husband under the Hindu Law as then applicable
She had no pre existing right or interest in the property
57 B 3 The award created a restricted estate for her in the house and 57 B 4 The ease fell squarely within the ambit of sub section 2 of section 14 of the Hindu Succession Act and her interest came to an end on her death
57 C Badri Prasad vs Smt
Kanan Devi   not applicable