Property Purchased By Husband In Homemaker Wife’s Name Is Family Property: High Court

Allahabad: In a significant verdict, Allahabad High Court has ruled that property bought by a husband in the name of his homemaker wife who does not have any independent source of income, will be the property of the family.

Such property, the court said, prima facie becomes the property of the joint Hindu family.

Hearing a case involving a son’s claim for declaration of co-ownership of deceased father’s property, Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal said it is common and natural for Hindu husbands to purchase properties in the name of their wives.

“This court under Section 114 of Indian Evidence Act may presume the existence of fact that the property purchased by Hindu husband in the name of his spouse, who is homemaker and does not have independent source of income, will be the property of family, because in common course of natural event Hindu husband purchases a property in the name of his wife, who is homemaker and does not have any source of income for the benefit of family,” Justice Deshwal said.

Saurabh Gupta, the appellant, had filed a civil suit seeking status of co-sharer of one-fourth of the property purchased by his father. His contention was that he was a co-sharer in it along with his mother and sought an injunction (stay) against the transfer of property to a third party.

The mother, in a written statement, had pleaded that the property was gifted to her by her husband as she had no independent source of income.

The court further stated that in circumstances like these, it is necessary to protect the property from creation of third-party rights.

“In such a case, the protection is necessary against further transferring the property or changing the nature of the same,” the court observed.