TIRATH SINGH Vs. MANPREET KAUR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Plaintiff Tirath Singh had six sons. One of them Hardeep Singh was, to use a metaphor, the black sheep of the family. The relationship between father and son ran foul. Tirath Singh disowned his son Hardeep Singh. He gave it in the newspapers. This was in the year 1995. Hardeep Singh had contracted a second marriage with Manpreet Kaur. The first wife Balwinder Kaur had registered a criminal case against her father-in-law Tirath Singh and defendant Manpreet Kaur. The sons of Tirath Singh were also named as accused in FIR 428 of Dec. 24, 1998 lodged at Police Station Sadar, Patiala under sections 494 (bigamy), 498-A (subjecting wife to cruelty) and 120-B Penal Code. While the case was going on Hardeep Singh prepared a general power of attorney purportedly from his father, the plaintiff, and has also obtained thumb impressions of his mother on it by concealing facts from the father. At the trial Tirath Singh denied the execution of general power of attorney ostensibly in favour of his son. Meanwhile, on the strength of that general power of attorney Hardeep Singh executed three sale deeds in favour of his wife Manpreet Kaur on Nov. 07, 2000, Nov. 08, 2000 and Nov. 09, 2000 of his father's property. The plaintiff asserted in the present civil suit 254 of June 08, 2005 that the sales were fradulent and without consideration. There was no necessity for plaintiff to sell his property. If the land was sold no money was paid to Tirath Singh.

(2.) In these circumstances, Tirath Singh instituted the present suit challenging the sale deeds as illegal, null and void and liable to be set aside as they were not binding on him. Plaintiff pleaded that the suit lands were co-parcenary properties and other co-parceners had a birth right in the suit land. Hardeep Singh died an unnatural death on Sept. 27, 2002 before the suit was instituted. The sale deeds were kept secret by Hardeep Singh during his life-time of the father and thereafter Manpreet Kaur remained tight lipped. Possession of suit property continued to vest with the plaintiff duly reflected in the revenue entries.

(3.) Manpreet Kaur started proclaiming herself as owner of the suit properties on the strength of the sale deeds and came to take forcible possession of the suit land from Tirath Singh. On this aggression, plaintiff approached the Halqa Patwari on May 14, 2005 from where he came to know of the existence of the sale deeds in favour of Manpreet Kaur. The plaintiff requested defendant to get sale deed cancelled or revoked as they were without authority of law, the POA being a fudged document. However, the defendant did not give in, which led to the filing of the suit for declaration challenging the sale deeds.