SHRINIWASRAO Vs. BABA RAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) 1. This appeal arises out of a suit on two simple money bonds which were admittedly executed by the two defendants Shriniwas Rao, who was then a minor, and Yado Rao. The lower Courts have decreed the claim against the estate of Shriniwas Rao and against Yado Rao personally. Yado Rao's liability on the bonds is not disputed, nor is it contended that Shriniwas Rao can be made personally liable. The question for decision is whether his estate can be made liable.

(2.) THE first Court held that Yado Rao was the de facto guardian of the minor and the manager of his estate, and that, though the money had not been borrowed to meet the expenses of the marriage of the minor's sister, as alleged by the plaintiffs, yet the loan had been incurred for the benefit of the minor's estate, and that his estate was therefore liable. The learned Judge apparently did not realise that there is a difference between a loan which purports to bind the minor's estate and one which does not, ignoring the decision in Jhitibai v. Tejmal (1917) 13 NLR 109 amongst other decisions of this Court. The lower appellate Court, which found that the money had been borrowed to meet the expenses of the marriage of the minor's sister, held that the plaintiffs were entitled to recover the money from the minor's estate under Section 68, Contract Act, the learned Judge apparently being of the opinion that any loan incurred for legal necessity under Hindu law was a "necessary" under Section 68, which is contrary to the decision in Nilkanth v. Chandrabhan AIR 1922 Nag 247 In this Court the plaintiffs have relied on Section 68 and have contended that the money borrowed to meet the expenses of this marriage was "necessary" within the meaning of that section.

(3.) A somewhat different view seems to have been taken by the Madras High Court. In Ramajogayya v. Jagannadhan AIR 1919 Mad 641 the following question was referred to a Full Bench : Whether any decree, and if so what decree, can be passed against a minor or his estate on a covenant entered into on his behalf by a guardian for his benefit, under which covenant no charge is made on the estate.