RAJA GOUNDER AND OTHERS versus M. SENGODAN AND OTHERS

RAJA GOUNDER AND OTHERS versus M. SENGODAN AND OTHERS

The mortgage deed (Ex. B-6), read with the joint patta (Ex. B-3) and electoral rolls (Exs. B-4 and B-5), constituted an admission by the propositus under ss.17–18 Evidence Act that he treated the named persons as his children; that admission is binding on those claiming through him, and applying the principle in Revanasiddappa that children of void or voidable marriages are legitimate for inheritance and entitled to shares in the notional partition of a deceased coparcener's interest, the Court set aside the lower courts' decrees and passed a preliminary decree of partition with allocation of the propositus' notional share equally among his children (Appellant Nos.1 and 3 and Respondent...

Parties
Appellants: Raja Gounder and Others; Respondents: M. Sengodan and Others
Jurisdiction
India
Judgment Date
19 January 2024
Procedural Posture
Civil Appeal / Judgment by the Supreme Court on Appeal From the High Court of Madras
Outcome
Appeal allowed
Legal Topics
Partition, Factum of Marriage, Void or Voidable Marriage, Status of Wife, Status of the Children Through the Extended Family, Coparceners, Admission by Record, Entitlement of Share to the Children of Void and Voidable Marriages, Preliminary Decree of Partition, Notional Partition
Property Law Evidence Family Law Succession Partition Factum of Marriage Void or Voidable Marriage Status of Wife +6 more

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Parties

Raja Gounder and Others

Appellants

M. Sengodan and Others

Respondents

Procedural Posture

Civil Appeal / Judgment by the Supreme Court on Appeal From the High Court of Madras

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether children of marriages found to be void or voidable are entitled to share in notional partition of the propositus' coparcenary interest
  2. 2 Whether statements in documentary evidence (mortgage deed, patta, electoral rolls) constitute admissions by the propositus under ss.17 and 18 of the Evidence Act binding on those who claim through him
  3. 3 Whether lower courts ought to have moulded reliefs from admitted documentary circumstances despite finding marriages not proved

Ratio Decidendi

The mortgage deed (Ex. B-6), read with the joint patta (Ex. B-3) and electoral rolls (Exs. B-4 and B-5), constituted an admission by the propositus under ss.17–18 Evidence Act that he treated the named persons as his children; that admission is binding on those claiming through him, and applying the principle in Revanasiddappa that children of void or voidable marriages are legitimate for inheritance and entitled to shares in the notional partition of a deceased coparcener's interest, the Court set aside the lower courts' decrees and passed a preliminary decree of partition with allocation of the propositus' notional share equally among his children (Appellant Nos.1 and 3 and Respondent...

Court Disposition

Appeal allowed

Orders

  • Preliminary decree of partition passed between Respondent No.3 and M.S. Muthusamy Gounder (the propositus) in respect of the plaint schedule properties
  • The share notionally allotted to M.S. Muthusamy Gounder is allotted equally to his children: Appellant Nos.1 and 3 and Respondent Nos.1 and 3