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Civil ProcedureSupreme Court of India

Maya Devi v. Lalta Prasad

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 2458 of 2014)Decided 19 Feb 2014
Civil Appeal No. 2458 of 2014
Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan · Justice Vikramajit Sen

Background

A creditor tried to satisfy a money decree by proceeding against a property occupied by Maya Devi under an earlier registered power-of-attorney transaction with the debtor's wife. The executing court and High Court rejected her objection by applying the ruling against power-of-attorney sales. She maintained that her transaction was genuine and that the debtor had never owned the property.

Decision Breakdown

Both Supreme Court judges allowed the appeal and protected the property from this execution. Radhakrishnan, J. found that the genuine earlier transaction and the circumstances of the collusive decree had been overlooked when applying the earlier precedent. Sen, J. additionally stressed that the property had not belonged to the debtor and that a third party's objections required meaningful examination. The money decree itself remained enforceable through other lawful remedies, including against the debtor's estate. The ruling did not generally convert every power of attorney into a registered sale deed.

Lesson Learnt

A creditor cannot satisfy a personal money decree by attaching property without establishing that it belongs to the debtor. Someone with an independent claim to that property must have their objection decided on its actual facts.

Maya Devi v. Lalta Prasad – Legal Case Shots | LegalAware