Eviction from property in dispute

Eviction from property in dispute

Property disputes are very common among siblings nowadays. The property issues have become serious and a bone of contention among family members. Each member is wishing to have the maximum share in the property ignoring the needs of other siblings. There are many factors of dispute that include primarily greed but also include lack of awareness and clarity on the property inheritance laws.

India follows the culture of joint families that not only lives together but also holds property together. The property issue creeps up when the eldest member of the joint family dies then the problem of distribution of property arises. The property dispute among siblings is related to their respective shares in the joint property that they will get at the time partition (i).

Joint-ownership of property is a double edged sword. This may lead to legal and financial complications if the co-owners decide to split. It is difficult to split a built up property in a way that it satisfies all the affected parties.

Types of property

Ancestral Property: These are the joint family property that is acquired for generations and becomes part of the inheritance in all the members of the family or the members who have rights in the inherited property by law.

Self-Acquired Property: The property that is earned by the person himself, the self-acquired property is only inherited through a will by the person whose property it is to the person who he/she wants to give.

Joint Family/ Ancestral property

The eldest male member is the Karta in a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF). The Karta is the custodian and manager of the income and assets of the HUF. He has the property in his name, his share in the property is equal to that of any other family member.

Joint family property is that property where every coparcener has a joint interest and joint possession. There may a case where a joint family does not own any property, but once ancestral nucleus is proved, after that all the subsequent acquisitions of property irrespective to the fact that whether they stand in the name of Karta or not is presumed to be joint family properties. But it can be rebutted by the person setting up the said properties as his self-acquisitions.

In the case of Baikuntha Nath Paramanik v. Sashi Bhusan Paramanik & others, (ii) – It was held by the Apex Court that when a joint family is found to have a nucleus sufficient to make the impugned acquisitions then a presumption arises that the acquisitions standing in the names of the persons who were in the management of the family properties are family acquisitions.

Exclusion from the property by parents

In case of a self-acquired property, the owner can exclude one’s offspring (sons as well as daughters) from inheriting by writing a Will. The Delhi High Court in 2016, ruled that an adult son had no legal claim on his parents’ self-acquired property. The High Court said that “Where the house is a self-acquired house of the parents, a son, whether married or unmarried, has no legal right to live in that house and he can live in that house, only at the mercy of his parents up to the time the parents allow”.

Delhi High Court (iii) has ruled that harassed parents can evict their children from any type of property. It has further clarified that elderly parents who are being ill-treated by their children can evict them. After an amendment in the Delhi Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens (Amendment) Rules, 2017, that provides that “seniors can apply for eviction of their son, daughter and legal heir from the property of any kind movable or immovable, ancestral or self acquired, tangible or intangible”. Parents could evict their abusive children from their property, adding that maintenance Tribunals can issue eviction orders.

In the case of Sachin and Anr. v. Jhabbu Lal and Anr.(iv), The Delhi High Court has ruled that a son, irrespective of his marital status, has no legal right to live in his parents’ house, and can reside there only at their mercy. Merely because the parents have allowed him to live in the house so long as his relations with the parents were cordial, does not mean that the parents have to bear his burden throughout his life.

Eviction of daughter-in-laws

The Punjab and Haryana High Court clarified that a woman can be evicted from her in-laws’ house under the Senior Citizens Act, and it is not in contradiction with the Domestic Violence (DV) Act. Justice Sehrawat stated that “Although, the petitioner’s counsel has stressed upon the Supreme Court judgment to contend that the daughter-in-law could not be evicted from the house of the father-in-law, this court finds that the emphasis of the judgment is not to embolden the daughter in-law to create any obnoxious situation for the senior citizen-father-in-law and then to claim immunity from the operation of the provisions of the Act of 2007.”

The Delhi High Court very recently ruled that if a woman mistreats her in-laws, she has no right to live in their home. The Court clarified that a daughter-in-law can be evicted from the home of her elderly in-laws as they also have the right to live peacefully. According to the court, a daughter in-law does not have an inalienable right of residence under the Domestic Violence Act. It was stated that “I am of the considered opinion that because there exists a frictional relationship between the parties, it would not be advisable for old parents to stay with appellant at the far end of their lives, and thus it would be appropriate if an alternative accommodation is provided to the appellant as directed in the impugned order per Section 19(1)(f) of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act” (v).

Eviction from ancestral property

A father can also evict his son from the ancestral property and the same was clarified by the High Court of Delhi in November 2018, wherein the Court ruled that harassed parents can evict their children from any type of property. The Court further clarified that the ‘type of property’ would in no manner act as a deterrent in eviction of children and legal heirs, who ill-treat their elderly parents.

It must be noted that after an amendment to the Delhi Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens (Amendment) Rules, 2017, the term ‘self-acquired’ was deleted and now the seniors can apply for eviction of their sons, daughters and legal heirs from all kind of properties be it: movable or immovable, ancestral or self-acquired, tangible or intangible.

Dispute arising out of Will: Self-acquired property of deceased

If there is a Will even then dispute can arise among the siblings as they may be dissatisfied with the tenor of the Will and hence they may challenge the distribution of property according on the grounds of improper execution, forgery, fraud, etc. The siblings may claim that the Will is invalid.

Conclusion

In India, property disputes account for more than half of the pending caseload in the courts. Although we have codified laws on property distributions even then dispute between parties go for ages. If you want to resolve your dispute through mutual settlement then it is advisable to take legal advice from an expert. If the parties do not wish to resolve dispute mutually then they have to file the suit for partition (in case of joint family property).

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(i) https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/realty-trends/property-disputes-family-settlement-better-option-than approaching-a-court/articleshow/20121849.cms?from=mdr

(ii) AIR 1972 SC 2531

(iii) https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/real-estate/money-relationships-can-your-parents-evict-you-from their-house/articleshow/70304423.cms?from=mdr

(iv) AIR 2017 Delhi 1

(v) https://lawtrend.in/daughter-in-law-who-mistreats-elderly-in-laws-has-no-right-to-live-in-their-home-rules-delhi hc

 

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