86_3 RATNAM CHETTIAR & ORS. v. S. M. KUPPUSWAMI CHETTIAR & ORS. September 18, 1975 (V. R. KRISHNA IYER IAND S. MuRTAZA FAZAL AU. JJ .] Hindu Law-Partition-Vr'hen may be reopened-1'1inor coparciners-1¥hen partition binding on them.
(1) A partition effected between the members of an Hindu Undivided Family by their own volition and with their consent cannot be reopened unless it is shown that it was obtained by fraud, coercion, misrepresentation or undue influence.
In such a case, the Court should require :.t~:ct proof of facts, be~ cause, an act inter vivos cannot be lightly set- aside. (2) When the partition is effected between the members of the Hlmiu .D
Undivided Family which consists of minor coparceners, it is binding on the minors also, if it is done in good faith and in a bona fide manner keeping- into account the interestsi of the m·:nors.
(3) But if th~ partition is proved to be unjust and unfa:r and is detrimen- tal to the interests of the minors. the partition can be reopened aLer any length of time. In such a case, it is the duty of the Court to protect and safeguard the interests of the minors and the onus of proof that the partition was just and fair iy on the party supporting the partition.
(4) Where th'ere is a partition of immovable and movable propertie.s, but the two transactions are distinct and separable, or have taken place at different times, If it is found that only one of these transactions is unjust and unfair, it is open to the Court to maintain the transaction which is just and fair and to reopen the partition that i• unjust and unfair. [873D-874B] In 1940, two brothers. defendants 1 and 5 partitioned their movable and immovable properties by two separate transactions. At that ti'me defendant 5 had two sons who were minors. They and their minor brothers filed a suit ia 1952 for cancellation of the partition and for re-opening it on the ground that ~ partition was unjust and unfair and had tDe effect of depriving the minors of their legal shar~s in the properties. The trial court passed a preli-1 minary decree for re-partition of the movable properties as it was ex .. facie
unjust and unfair and directed appointment of the Commissioner to go into t])e valuation of the asllets sought to be partitioned while holding that the partition of immovable properties was neither unjust nor unfair. In appeal, the High Court agreed with the :firulin~! of the trial court but set aside the directi'on of the trial court for the appointment. of Comm.issionei; quantified the value of the disparity in the share of the plaintiffs and passed a decree to the extent of 2/5th share of Rs. 17,700.
In appeal to this Court, passing a decree for a sum of Rs. 46,500/. with future' interest in modification of the Hieh Court's decree, HELD : (1) The division of immovable propertie~ was just. fair and equal. The properties were not actually valued according to the market rate and only a notional valuation had been given in the partition deed; but, in view of the detailed examination by the two courts of the facts regarding capitalised value of the properties allotted to the two brothers, it could not be said that tho parti- tion of the immovable properties was either unfair or unjust. This Court will not inte.rfere with concurrent :findings of the fact given by the court~ below in the abscllC\l of any extraordinary or special reasons.
[868E-F; 86?B-C] 2(a) But a perusal Of the 11ehedules to the partition deed relating to movable properties shows an ex-facie disparity of about Rs. 10,000. [874B] (b) Further, the evidence disclosed that a sum of Rs. 55,000 with defend- ant 1, was agreed upon .between the brothers to be divided later. but this
7-1127 SCl/75 [1976] I s.c.R. amount was not .included in the partition deed. Assuming that defendant 5 h~d not. taken al"!y objection, since the amount was very large, his silence or his: acquiescence rn allowing his elder brother to swallow the amount was not a prudent act and has caused seriou<;i detriment to the interests of the– minors which he had to protect because. he and his minor sons were members of an Hindu Undivided Family.
[870H-871B] (c) Taking these two sums into account and calculating the plaintiffs share in 1940 and adding interest thereon till date of decree, the plaintiffs would be entitled to Rs. 46.500.
[874D-EJ (d) The High Court was right in holding that it would not be in the inter~ es-t of the minors or of justice to order the appointment of a Commissioner for re-opening the entire partition when the shares or the plaintiffs are easily ascertainable in terms of money and can be quantified.
[874C … D] Bishunodeo Narain and Anr. v. Seogeni Rei and Jagernath. [1961] S.C.R. 548, 556, followed. Devarain and Ors. v. Janaki Ammal and .Ors. C.A. No. 2298 of 1966 dated March 20, 1967; Lal Bahadur Singh v. Sispal Singh and Ors. I.LR. 14 All, 498; Chanvira 'Pa' v. Da 'Na' 'Va' & Ors. J.L.R. 19 Born. 593 and Maruti v. Rllma I.LR. 21 Born. 333, referred to.
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 685 of 1968. From the Judgment and Order dated the 22nd November, 1963 of the Madras High Court in Appeal Nos. 322 and 468 of 1959. F. S. Nariman, A. Subba Rao, R. V. Pillai and P. Ramaswami, for the appellants.
M. Natesan, P. S. Srisailam and M. S. Narasimhan, for L.rs. of res- pondent no. I and respondents 2 and 3. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by FAZAL ALI, J.-This is the plaintiffs' appeal against the Judgment of the High Court of Madras dated November 22, 1963 by certificate. The appeal arises out of a partition suit filed by plaintiffs Nos. I to 4 for concellation of partition made between the father of the plaintiffs, who is defendant No. 5 and defendant No. I the elder brother of defen- dant No. 5. It appears that as far back as May 10, 1940 the two brothers, namely S. M. Kuppuswami Chettiar defendant No. I and S. M. Ranganatham Chettiar defendant No. 5, who were originally members of Undivided Hindu Family partitioned their shares by virtue of a register- ed partition deed dated May l 0, 1940.
At the time when the partition . was made plaintiffs Nos. 2 to 4 were minors and defendant No. 3 was also a minor. Under the partition deed both immovable and movable properties were divided between the two broth~rs voluntarily thr?ugh th_e aid and assistance of D.W. 3 K. Narayanswailll who was the family audi- tor of defenda".1t No. I and was his friend and adviser.
The partition deed with respect to the immovable properties is Ext. B-1 which appears at pp. 243-248 of the Paper Book. Under the partition deed two Lists were prepared itemising tbe properties which were to go to. the two brothers.
The list of properties is contained in Ext. B-115 of the Paper Book. As regards the movable properties it appears that the partition had taken place a month earlier i.e. on April 12, 1940 and c
R. CHETTIAR V. s. M. K. CHETTIAR (Fazal Ali, J.) the partition deed is Ext. B-3, which consists of two Schedules-Sche- dule A and Schedule B-movables mentioned in Sch. A were allotted to defendant No. 1 and those contained in Sch, B were allotted to the share of defendant No. 5.
The plaintiffs' case was that the two brothers who were members of the Undivided Hindu Family along with the plaintiffs and other minor coparaceners betrayed the interests of the minors and the division made between them was both unjust and unfair a·ad had the effect of depriv- ing the minors of their legal shares in the properties the lion's.share hav- ing fallen to the lot of elder brother defendant No. 1 S. M. Kuppuswami Chettiar hereinafter referred to as 'S.M.K.'.
The plaintiffs' father who is defendant No. 5 being a person of weak iatellect did not care to protect the interests of the minors and he accordingly accepted any share that was allotted to him without any objection.
Defend•ant No. 5 S. M. Ranganathan Chettiar would be hereinafter referred to as 'S.M.R.' Plaintiffs also alleged th.at the partition was secured by practis.- ing fraud and undue influence and by suppressing large assets belonging to the family which were taken by defendant No. 1 by taking advantage of the weakness of the plaintiffs' father.
We might mention at the outset that Mr. F. S. Narima•a the learned counsel for the appellaJ!tS did not at.all press the plea of fraud and undue influence taken by the plaintiffs before the Trial Court and confined his arguments only to the allegation that the partition effected between the two brothers S.M.K. and S.M.R. was on the very face of it unjust and unfair and detrimental to the interests of the minors. The plafu-
tiffs also laid claim to a sum of Rs. 10,000/- from the cash deposit which is said to have been given to the mother of defendants 1 & 5 but this claim was not pressed before us i,1 the course of the arguments. Other minor claims which were also made before the Trial Court were not pressed before us.
The suit was resisted by defendant No. 1 S.M.K. and his maior sons defendants 1 and 4 and a minor son defendant~3 who however attained majority during the pendency of the suit before the Trial Court. We
might also mention here that plaintiffs Nos. 2 to 4 sons of S.M.R. were also minors at the time when the suit was filed but plaintiff No. 2 attained majority on October 3, 1958 just about a month and a half before. the judgment in the suit was delivered by the Subordinate Judge, Coimbatore.
The defendants stoutly denied the allegations made by the plaintiffs and averred that there was absolutely no disparity in the division of the properties, that no fraud or undue influence had been practised, that the properties were divided between defendants 1 and 5 with the explicit consent of defendant No. 5 and that the division of the properties would show that the partition was neither unjust nor unfair, both parties having taken equal shares in the immovable and movable properties.
A number of other pleas was also raised by the defendants, but it is not necessary for us to deal with them in view of the points pressed before us by the learned counsel for the appellants. The Trial Court framed as many as 18 issues and after considering the oral and docume'ntary evidence produced before it it held that. so fur as the partition of the immovable properties was concerned which_ was done by a separate document and was clearly severable from the partition ot the movable properties, the partition was neither unjust nor. unfair so as to entitle the minors to re-open the partition after a longi penod.
The leamed Trial Judge, however, was of the opinion that so far as the partition of movable properties was concerned it was ex facie unjust and unfair and the plea of the plaintiffs for re-opening the same must succeed.
The Trial Court accordingly passed a preliminary de- . cree forre-partition of the movable properties and directed the appoint- ment of a Commissioner to go into the valuati0i1 of the assets sought to be re-partitioned.
Both the plaintiffs and the defendants filed separate uppeals before the High Court of Madras. The plaintiffs filed an appeal before the High Court against that part of the decree which dismissed their suit for re-opening the partition of the immovable properties,, while the defend- ants filed an appeal against the decree of the Trial Court directing re- opening of the partition of movaole properties and thus decreeing the plaintiffs' suit to that extent.
The High Court decided both the appeals by one common Judgment dated November 22, 1963 and by upholding the findings. of the learned Su]Jordinate Judge, Coimbator, the High Court made a slight variation in the decree by setting aside the directions of the Subordinate Judge for the appointment of a Commissioner and by quantifying the value of the disparity in the share of the plaintiffs, the High Court passed a decree to the extent of 2/5th share of Rl!. 17, 700/. The plaintiffs alone have filed the present appeal against the judgment and decree of the High Court after obtaining a certificate from that Court.
Before going into the merits of the case, it may be necessary to me.1tion a few unique aspects of the present case. It would appear from the findings arrived at by the two courts that defendant No. 1 was undoubtedly an honest man and defendant No. 5 the younger brother appears to be an idealist~ person to whom the value and prestige of the family was a consideration much above munda<ae monetary matters. Secondly, the partition between the two brothers was voluntarily made about 35 years ago -and the father of the plaintiffs had most willingly and with good grace accepted the partition and the shares that were allotted to him.
Thirdly, since a very long tinie had elapsed since the partition took place, it would be well nigh impossible. for ti.1y court to determine the value of the assets, some of which might !rave disappeared, others may be shrouded in mystery, and for determining the rest the necessary data· may not be available.
It appears to IJS to be too late in the day in 1975 to appoint a Commissioner in order to go into a situation which existed in 1940 -and theia to pass a decree which may result in a fresh spate of litigation for another decade. It was possibly this consideration which weighed with the High Court in quantifying the amount of the share of the plaintiffs whi~h they bad suffered under the division of the assets.
Finally, the plamtiff's father defendant No. 5 was a shrewd business and after his elder brother had suffered from some illness, he was carrying on the business of the family a fe_w yeaB before the partition. Both the parties were assisted by an Auditor Mr. K. Narayanswami in effecting the partition by metes ~nd bounds … ln these circumstances, therefore, there could be no question of practJsmg c
II R. CHETTIAR v, s. M. K. CHETTIAR (Fazal Ali,!.) any fraud or undue influence as alleged by the plai.:ltiffs and if the parti- tion was unjust or unfair to the minors it was merely because defendant ,.\ .
No. 5 made an error of Judgment with respect to some properties. Lastly, we have not been able to find •any material to justify the conclusion of the High Court that the diflerence ill the allotment of the shares to the plaintiffs would be 2/5th of Rs. 17,700/-.We shall deal with this point a little later and show that the difference is much more.
Mr. Nariman learned counsel for the appellants submitted two points before us. In the first place, he ass-ailed the partition of the i' immovable properties on the ground that no valuation of the properties was fixed according to the market value and that the plaintiffs were \J.ot given any share in the agricultural properties. As regards the mov- able properties it was argued that the division was wholly unjust and c
unfair because the lion's sha~e was taken by defendant No. 1 and the choice made by defendant No. 5 the father of the plaintiffs was neither wise. »1or prudent and was extr~mely detrimental to the interestS of the plaintiffs.
As an instance of the uiafairness of the partition Mr. N ariman pointed out that a comparison of Schedules A and B of Ext. B-3 would show that defendant No. 1 was allotted movable properties worth Rs. 1,10,274-2-6, whereas defendant No. 5 was given properties worth Rs. 90,142-4-0 there being a difference of about Rs, 20,000/- odd.
He also pointed out that shares of Lakshmi Textile Mills were allotted to defendant No. 1 which were extremely valuable and gave very rich dividends, whereas defendant No. 5 was allottea the shares of Lakshmi Sugar Mills which was one of the sick Mills running at a loss whose dividends were insigaificant.
We shall consider this con- tention raised by counsel for the appellants a little later. The learned counsel appearing for the respondents Mr. Natesan, however, submitted that the present suit is frivolous >and has been filed only with a view to harass the defendants a'ad to re-open a parti- tion which was both just and equitable and which was entered by both the brothers with their eyes open and with the aid of their financial expert.
Learned counsel for the respondents, further submitted that there is no reliable evidence to show that there was any cash deposit of Rs. 65,000/- as mel,1tioned in Sch. B, and if there was one it would have been divided on the spot instead of being postponed to a future date. Similarly it was submitted that so far as the sh-ares are concerned they were chosen by defendant No. 5 himself and their valuation was equal.
As· regards the immovable properties we find ourselves in complete agreement with the arguments of the learned counsd for the respcmdents that the pmtition of these properties was fair and just and there is no material on the record to show that the partition worked in any way injustice or was detrimental in any way to the inte:ests of the minors.
In this connection we might try to illustrate our pomt from tile findings of the Trial Court regarding the valuation of the immovable pro~rties divided between the two brothers. The partition of inlmovable properties Ext. B-1 which appears at pp. 243 to 248 of tlle Paper Book consists of two .Schedules A & B.
The Trial Court has, after careful consideration of the evidence, very scientifically itemised the properties (1976] 1 s.c.R. allotted to each of the brothers and the value of those properties. For instance, item 1 of Sch. A allotted to defendant No. 1 is a tank,-fed nanja land i11 Kurichi vil1'age measuring 3.80 acres and has been valued at Rs. 4,000 /-. Item 2 is a similar land in village Kurichi which is self-cultivated and has been valued at Rs. 7000/-.
Thus the total value of items 1 and 2 of Sch. A comes to Rs. 11,000/-. As against this defendant No. 5 was allotted item 2 of Sch. B which on the basis of capitalised value at the rate of Rs. 60/- per month has been fixed at Rs. 14,000/-.
It~ms 1 & 2 of Sch. A are the only agricultural properties possessed by the family and the Trial Court has rightly pointed out that whereas defendant No. 1 took the agricultural properties,
defendant No. 5 got urban properties not only of the same value but of a higher value. Similarly item No. 3 o( Sch. A allotted to defendant No. 1 is a house in the Big Bazaar Street and has been valued at Rs. 16,500 /-. As against this the family house in the Oppanakkara Street has been allotted to defendant No. 5 whose value is much more than item No. 3 of Sch. A.
The capitalised value of the family house in the Oppanak- kara Street on the basis of rental of Rs. 700/- per month would come to near about Rs. 96,pGO/-. Item 4 of Sch. A is a house and site in
Ramanathapuram and has been valued at Rs. 7,000/- because it was purchased in 1938 for a sum of Rs. 5,650/- vi.de Ext. B-139 dated March 6, 1938. The learned Subordina!e Judge has roughly put the valuation of the said house and site at Rs. 7,000/- in 1940. As against
this item 3 allotted to defendant No. 5 is a shop building in the Big Bazaar Street carrying a rental of Rs. 30/- per month at the time of the partition whose capitalised value would be Rs. 7,000/-. Item No. 5 of Sch. A which was allotted to defendant No. 1 has been valued at Rs. 2,300/- representing the purchase price of the property mentioned in Exts. B-140 to B-142.
As against this item 4 of Sch. B which has been allotted to defendant No. 5 was purchased for a sum of Rs. 2,100/-. It would thus appear that the division of immovable properties is just, fair and equal.
It is true that the properties were not actually valued according to the market rate and that a notional valuation had been given in the partition deed. But in view of the detailed examination by the two Courts of the fact regarding capitalised ,value of the properties allotted to the two brothers 'it cannot be said that the partition of immovable properties was either unfair or unjust or in any way detrimental to the interests of the minors.
After consi- dering the evidence, the Trial Court found as follows. : "It is thus found from the available evidence that there was no unfairness or inequality in the partition of the im- movable properties effected under Exhibit B-1 and that no
ground· exists for reopening that partition." The High Court upheld the findings of the Trial Court in these words : "Thus in regard to the division of the immovable proper- ties it is not possible for us to say that there was unfairness or fraud or irregularity in the'allotment of the properties bet- we~,1 the brothers.
The scheme of the division of the immovable properti·es seems to us to be fair and we cannot say that the plaintiffs' father (5th defendant) acted against the interests of his sons . ,..
c c R. CHETTIAR v. s. M. K. CHETTIAR (Fazal Ali,!.) or that the 1st defendant took any advanl'age of his position as the eldest member of the family mid allotted to himself the best among the properties available for division.
We there- fore confirm. ·!he finding. of the learned Subordinate Judge that the parl!t10n of the immovable properties effected under Exhibit B-1 is binding on the plai!atiffs and that the plaintiffs are not entitled to reopen the partition."
It is a well-settled practice of this Court not to interfere with a con- current finding of fuel given by the two Courts below in the absence of any extra-ordinary or special reasons.
fo the instant case we hold that the finding of the High Court as well as of the Trial Court is based on a full and complete consideration of the evidence both oral and ·documentary and an elaborate and meticnlous discussion of a]] the surrounding circumsta•1ces.
We, therefore do not feel inclined to interfere with this concurrent finding of fact which is hereby affirmed. We ·might state that the objection regarding the propertks not having been properly valued falls to the ground when we find that
instead of notional vaJue mentimed in the pi).ftition deed which is Rs. 12,547-13-0 for defendant No. 1 and Rs. 12,000/- for defenaant No. 5 the capitalised vaJue of the items aJ!ottecl to the two brothers either on the basis of their purchase price or on the basis of the rent fetched by them is almost equal.
The first contention regardingthe partition of immovable properties raised by the learned counsel for the appella1ats being unfair and unjust must therefore be overruled. We now come to the question of the division of movable proper- ties.
In this connection our attention was drawn by Mr. Narinr.m to Ext. B-3 which is to be read along with the pencil 11ote of K. Narayana- swami D.W. 3, who was the auditor of Defendant No. 1 himself. Exhibit B-3 is the partition deed of movable properties cpnsisting of shares, deposits, pronotes, mortgage deeds and cash, particulars of
which are given in Schs. A & B. Movable properties mentioned in Sch. A were allotted to defendant No. 1 and those mentioned in Sch. B, were allotted to defendant No. 5 father of the plaintiffs. It will
appear from a plain ex•amination of the two schedules that whereas defendant No. 1 admittedly got properties worth Rs. 1,10,274-2-6 defeli!dant No. 5 got properties only worth Rs. 90,142-4-0 there bein!!l a clear disparity of Rs. 10,000/- because the share of each of the two defendants would be Rs. t.00,208/-.
On the defendant No. l's own documents therefore, it is clear that a loss of Rs. 10,000/- was caused to defen'dant No. 5 in the year 1940 and the share of the plain- tiffs in this loSs would be 2/5th i.e. about Rs. 4,000/- which would swell into a large amount if we add interest for all these 35 years. That apart, the learned connsel for the appella\1ts has submitted that the do- cument Ext. B-3 deliberately omits to mention a sum of Rs. 65 ,000 /- which was a cash deposit alleged to have been kept in the safe and out of which Rs. 10,000/- were agreed to be given to the mo~h.er of the two brothers and the rest viz.
Rs. 55,000/- were to be divided bet- ween the two brothers, e~ch defendant getting Rs. 27,500/-. This is [1976] I S.C.R. undoubtedly proved by Ext. A-2 where these figures are clearly men- tioned.
Entry No. 1 of Ext. A-2 runs thus (1) Thanichonthan1 B~long:n] exclu- sively.* Total (3) 6\0JO *Scored out in pencil. Settkn1er.t ( 4) 55,000 S.M.K. (5) 27,500 S.M.R. (6) 27,500 This cash amount of Rs. 65,000/- is denied by defendant No. I and it is said that this amount might have been hidden money which never came to the share of the parties.
D.W. 3 K. Narayanaswami has positively admitted in his evidence that he had made this entry in his ow.1 hand-writing but he scored out this entry as the amount was not available. Both the Subordinate Judge, Coimbatore and the High
Court have accepted the explanation given by D.W. 3 N•arayanaswami although the explanation appears to us to be prima facie false and un- convincing. Even assuming that this e.itry was made due to some
mistake and had to be scored out, we cannot believe that a person of the expert knowledge and status of D.W. 3 Narayanaswami Iyer the Auditor would forget to make a corresponding correction in the total amount which is given below the statemeni of account signed bv him. If the amount of Rs. 65,000/- was scored out, then the total wo~ld be Rs .. 2001161- in-Ext. A-2, but the total shown in pencil in Ext. A-2 is Rs. 2,65,116F which completely demolishes the case of defendant No. I and the explanation given by D.W. 3 that the entry was made due to some mistake.
The Courts below have however, relied on a number of circumstances which are purely of a speculative nature, in order to hold that the plaintiffs have not l>een able to prove the exis- tence of the cash amount of Rs. 65,000 /-. One of the circumstances was that according to the evidence of defendant No. 5 the amount of Rs. 65,0001- was taken out from the safe and counted in the presence of defe.idants I and 5 and yet defendant No. 5 did not care to divide it at that time into two equal parts, •aor did he insist on the same. Defendant No. 5 has, however, given an explanation that as his elder brother wanted that this money should be divided later he did not want to join issue on the subject and trusted his elder brother. A perusal of the evidence of defendant No. 5 cle>arly shows that he is an extremely emotional sort of a person who believes in the respect of the family above all consideration. It is,, therefore, n.ot unlikely that defendant No. 5 quietly accepted the advice of, his elder brother to divide the amaunt later on. It was however argued by the learned counsel for the respondents that defendant No. 5 was a shrewd business-man having managed t11e family affairs for quite some time and if such a huge amount was concealed from him by his elder brother he would have undoubtely raised objection at any time before the suit.
This con- duct of defendant No. 5 cannot, however, put the plaintiffs out of .court. He had decided to abide by the advice of his elder brother and if he thought that his elder brother did not wa,1t to divide the amount of Rs. 65 ,000 /- he kept quiet which is quite in consonance with the
c "' . c R. CHETTIAR v. s. M. K. CHETTIAR (Fazal Ali, J.) character of this man as revealed in his evidence and the circumstances of the case. Assuming however that defendant No. 5 did not take
any objection, as the amount was very huge the silence of defeo,1dant No. 5 or even his acquiescence in allowing his elder brother to swallow this amount was not a prudent act and has caused serious detriment tJ the interests of the minors which ·he had to protect, beoause the minors at that time were members of the Hindu Uadivided Family.
In view of these circumstances, therdore, we are satisfied that the plaintiffs' case regarding the deliberate suppression of the cash amount of Rs . 65,000/- has been proved mid if this amount would have been avail- able to defendant No. 5, then the plaintiffs would have got 2/5th share of Rs. 55,000/-, (Rs. 10,000/- reserved for the mother) viz. Rs.
27,500/-, as far back as 1940. · The argument of Mr. Nariman d,1 this point is, therefore, well-founded and must prevail. The only other point that was stressed before us by the learned counsel for the appellants was that the Trial Court was right in order- ing the appointment of a Commissioner for going into the assets of the movable properties, particularly the question of the shares of
the Lakshmi Mills. We are, however, t1,1able to agree with this argument. Mr. Natesan learned counsel for the respondents has drawn our atten- tion to some; important documents to show that the shares were equaly divided betweea defendants Nos. land 5 and were actually chosen by defendant No. 5 with his eyes open.
Exhibit B-153 whiCh is a share market report dated April 5, 1940 shows that the paid up value of each share of Lakshmi Sugar Mills was Rs. 50 but the current price of the share at that time was Rs. 41/8/- i.e. it was Rs. 8/8/- below
the paid-up value and the dividend p•aid on the share was only Rs. 9/- yearly. It was, therefore, suggested by counsel for the respondents that defendant No. 5 was given the choice to take the shares of the Lakshmi Mills or the Lakshmi Sugar Mills and in view of the low market rate of the Lakshmi Mills he chose to·take the shares of the Lakshmi Sugar Mills to the extent of Rs. 10,000/.
In lieu of the shares of other Mills defenda'at· No. 5 took a cash amount of Rs. 13000/- as would appear from Ext. B-3. It is true that th~ shares of. Lakshmi Textile Mills went up enormously a,few years later in view of the international war situation in the continent but defendant No. 5 could not have foreseen such a contingency a,1d if he had made the choice which he thought would be beneficial to the interests of the minors his conduct would have been at best an error of judgment which would not be sufficient to reopen the choice made by him.
Mr Nariman, however, strenuously relied on the evidence of D.W. , 3 N arayaaaswami Auditor which was to the effect that he expressed great surprise when defendant No. 5 chose the shares of Lakshmi Sugar Mills and in his opinion that was his foolish act. This is, however,
a matter of opinion but the fact remains that the market report of the Lak~hmi Mills was not encouraging and therefore there was some, justi- ficat10n for defendant No. 5 for not opting for the shares of the Lakshmi Mills.
. I"1 these circumstances we hold that so far as the shares of the various Mills were concerned the.re was no unjust or unequal distribu- tion between the parties. This item of movable properties, therefore, '
was correctly divided between the parties. [1976] l s.c.R. . Learned counsel for the 'respondents submitted that taking a broad view of the whole case the Court should hold that it was not a case of unfair or unjust partition, because both defendant Nos. l alld were persons who .had shrewd business experience and had voluntarily accepted the partition o~ the properties which was by and large equal. The learned counsel relied on the decision of .this Court iu Devarajan and Ors. v. Janak1 Ammal and Ors(•') where this
Court observed as follows : "Generally speaking, a partition once effected is final and cannot be reopened on the ground of mere inequality of shares, though it can be reopened in case of fraud or mistake or subsequent recovery of family property :
[see Moro Vishvanath v. Ganesh Vithal (1873) 10 Born. H.C.R. 444]. Further an• allot!nent bona fide made in the course of a partition by common consent of the coparceners is not open to attack when the shares are not absolutely equal,
or are not strictly in accordance with those settled by law. It is true that n1inors are per111itted in law to reopen a parti- tion on proof that the partition has been unfair and unjust to them.
Even so, so long as there is no fraud, unfair dealing or over-reaching by one member as against another,. Hindu law requires that a bona fide partition made on the basis of the common consent of coparceners
must be respected and is irrevocable : " It was submitted that the evidence and circumstances of the case clrnrly show that there was no inequality of shares and-fhc plea of c fraud or mistake has not been accepted by the courts and that on the whole the partition was bona fide.
It is true that if this was the posi- tion the ratio of the decision. in Devarajan's case' (supra) would un- doubtedly apply to this case. But this Court had taken care to point out in these very observations which are underlined by us that this rule did not apply to the minors who are undoubtedly ,permitted in law to reopen the partition once it is proved that the partition W"dS unfair or unjust to them.
In view of the concurrent finding of fact of the two Courts below that the partition of movable properties, excepting those with respect to the shares, was unfair and unjust, even accordrag to the decision mentioned above the partition with respect to the movable properties has to be reopened.
Moreover in an rnrlier decision of this Court in Bishundeo Narain and: Anr. v. Seogeni Rai and Jagernath(2 ) it was observed: "It is well established that a minor can sue for partition •and obtain a decree if his next friend can show that that is for the minor's benefit. It is also beyond dispute that an adult coparcener can enforce a partition by suit even whe.n there are minors. Even without a suit, there can be a part1- . tion between members of a joint family when one of the
members is a minor. In the case of such lastly mentioned (I) C. A. No. of decided on 20-3-1967. (2) [1951] S. C.R. 548, 556.} …. f c R. CHETTIAR v. s. M- K. CHETTIAR (Fazal Ali, J.)
partitions, where a minor can never be able to consent to the same in law, if a minor. on attaining majority is able to show that the division was unfair and unjust; the Court will certainly set it aside."
In our opinion the present case falls within the ratio laid doWfi by the decision cited above. Apart from that there are numerous authorities which have son- sistently held that where a partition is unjust and unfair and detri- mental to the interests of the minors the partition would be reopened irrespective of the question of bona {ides.
In Lal Bahadur Singh v. Sis pal Singh and Ors. ( 1) it was observed that even though the ground of fraud and mistake failed, the partition which affected the interests of the minor could be reopened.
Similarly in Chanvira 'Pa' v. Da: 'Na' 'Va' & Ors. (2 ) a Division Bench of the Bombay High Court held that a partition will be binding on the minors only if it wasc just and legal, but if it was made and finalised there being no means of testing the validity of the as,sets the partition was not final. The
same view was taken in Maruti v. Rama(3 ) Thus on a consideration of the authorities discussed above and. the law on the subject, the following propositions emerge : (l) A partition effected between the members of the Hindu
Undivided Family by their own volition and with their consent cannot be reopened, unless it is shown that the same is obtained by fraud, coercion, misrepresentation or undue influence. In such a case the Court should require-
a strict proof of facts because an act inter vivos cannot be lightly set aside. (2) When the partition is effected between the members of the Hindu Undivided Family which consists of
minor coparceners it is binding on the minors also if it is done in good faith and in bona fide manner keeping into- account the interests of the minors. (3) . Where, however a partition effected between the members of the Hindu Undivided Family which consists of minors
is proved to be unjust and unfair and is detrimental to the interests of the minors the partition can certainly be re- opened whatever the length of time when the partition took place. In such a case it is the duty of the Court
to protect and safeguard the interests of the minors and· the onus of proof that the partition was just and fair is on the party supporting the partition. ( 4) Where there is a partition of immovable and movable-
properties but the two transactions are distinct and separable or have taken place at different times, if it is found that only one of these transactions is unjust and'. (1) I. L. R. 14 AIL 498.
(2) I.LR. 19 Born. 593. (3) I. L. R. 21Born.333. unfair it is open to the Court to maintain the transaction which is just and fair and to reopen the partition that is unjust and unfair.
– ,I,. 'The facts of the present case, in our opinion, fall squarely within propositions Nos. (3) and (4) indicated above. In the instant case we find from a perusal of the two schedules 'A' and 'B' of. Ext. B-3 that there has been ex facie a disparity of about Rs. 10,000/- to which must be added Rs. 27,500/- which we have discussed above. Thus the total disparity comes to Rs. 37,500/- and the share of the minor plaintiffs would be 2/5th which
comes to Rs. 15,000/-. This amount of Rs. 15,000/- should have been avail- able to the minor plaintiffs as far back as 1940 when the partition was made and they have been deprived of that amount ever since. We c
find that in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case as already stated it will not be in the interests of the minors nor conducive in the interests of justice to order the appointment of a Commissioner for reopening the entire partition when the shares of the minor plaintiffs are easily ascertainable in terms of money and cah be quantified. In these circumstances we think the best course is to
determine the money value of the share of the plaintiffs and to pass a decree for the same which will protect the minors from protracted litigation which might follow the passing of a preliminary decree. This was the
approach made by the High Conrt but we do not agree with the amount quantified by it. If we add interest at the rate of 6% per a,nnum as prayed for in the plaint on the amount of Rs. 15,000/-, the interest calculated at this rate for 35 years from 1940 to 1975 would come to Rs. 31500/-. Thus the total amount payable to the ·plaintiffs comes to Rs. 46,500/-.
We, therefore, allow the appeal in part and modify the decree of the High Court to the extent that there will be a decree for a sum of Rs. 46,500/- in favour of the plaintiffs/appellants which represents their share of the movable properties of which they were deprived of. ·The plaintiffs would be entitled to future interest at the rate of 6% per annum till payment.
In the circumstances of the case, there will be no order as to costs. This course, in our opinion, safeguards the interests of the minors to give them their just due and to protect them from a protracted and fruitless litigation.
-V.P.S. Appeal partly allowed.