S.K.Das, J. - (1.) THIS is an appeal by special leave from the judgment and decree of the High Court of Calcutta, dated April 6, 1950, by which the said High Court affirmed the judgment and decree of the Subordinate Judge of Asansol dated June 30, 1943, in Title Suit No. 2 of 1942. The suit was instituted by the four sons of one Ram Kishori Lal Sao, a resident of Asansol in Bengal, who died in September 1927. One of the plaintiffs, Kalicharan, died during the pendency of the suit and his heirs were brought on the record as plaintiffs in his stead. The defendants were Sumitra Devi, widow of the late Ram Kishori Lal, (defendant No. 1) and Kamala Devi, daughter of the late Ram Kishori Lal (defendant No. 2). The said defendants, 1 and 2, are the appellants before us.
(2.) THE suit was instituted for a declaration that a deed of gift dated March 10, 1940, executed by Sumitra Devi in favour of her daughter Kamala Devi, was void and inoperative beyond the lifetime of Sumitra Devi and was not binding on the reversion. The following genealogical table shows the relation inter se between the parties : JUDGEMENT_12_LAWS(SC)1_1957.htm On his death, Ram Kishori Lal had left extensive properties worth several lakhs, including some houses in Asansol, two businesses at Howrah and Asanasol, and large amounts of money deposited in Banks or invested in loans etc. Shortly after his death Sumitra Devi, for herself and as guardian of her two children, Lachmi Narain and Kamala, brought a suit against her stepsons for partition of the properties left by her husband. This suit was registered as Title Suit No. 664 of 1927 in the Court of the Subordinate Judge of Asansol. A preliminary decree was passed in the suit on July 22, 1933, and a final decree on June 29, 1936. This decree provided for payment of Rs. 10,000 as expenses for the marriage of the minor daughter Kamala, in addition to a maintenance allowance of Rs. 50 per month to her until she was married. Lachmi Narain, it should be noted, died on January 1, 1936. By the final decree, each of the sons obtained one -sixth share of the estate of Ram Kishori Lal. By reason of the death of Lachmi Narain before the final decree, Sumitra Devi got one -third share of the estate, one -sixth in her capacity as widow and one -sixth as the mother of her pre -deceased son. The allotment in favour of Sumitra Devi consisted mostly of house properties, and the four houses of her share with which we are concerned in this litigation were described in a schedule to the plaint and stood on Municipal Holding Nos. 16, 17, 26 and 27 of Circle 4 of the Asansol Municipality. The value of these four houses was found by the Commissioner at the time of partition to be in the neighbourhood of Rs. 19,000 only.
(3.) THE marriage of Kamala Devi was settled with one Bijoy Kumar Sao, son of Nand Lal Sao, a retired Deputy Postmaster, Patna General Post Office. The case of the appellants was that the marriage was settled at Deoghar on Shivratri day in 1938 and the plaintiffs, respondents before us, had no concern with the negotiation; it was alleged that the terms of the marriage settlement included a promise by Sumitra Devi of a gift of four houses at Asansol, worth about Rs. 20,000 as marriage dowry for Kamala. The further case of the appellants was that at the time of the marriage itself, which was performed on May 10, 1938, Sumitra Devi made a "sankalpa" of the gift of four houses at Asansol, which was accepted by Nand Lal Sao on behalf of Kamala, and the gift was later confirmed on the occasion of the Dwiragaman (Gowna) ceremony which took place in December, 1938, and possession of the houses was also given to her; soon after the marriage, however, Sumitra Devi feel ill and the deed of gift was actually executed and registered on March 10, 1940, some two years after the marriage. This was the deed of gift which was impugned by the plaintiffs-respondents.;