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Abdul Matin Mallick vs. Subrata Bhattacharjee (Banerjee) and Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2022 INSC 518Decided 5 May 2022
Civil Appeal Nos. 3499 and 3500 of 2022
M.R. Shah · B.V. Nagarathna

Background

Two daughters of the original landowner sold their undivided share in an inherited property to Abdul Matin Mallick (a stranger, i.e., not a co-sharer). The landowner's three sons filed an application to "pre-empt" (buy back) that sale under the West Bengal Land Reforms Act. The Trial Court dismissed the pre-emption application as not maintainable, but the First Appellate Court reversed this and allowed the pre-emption, a decision the Calcutta High Court upheld. Mallick, the purchaser, appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing among other things that the sons/pre-emptors had never deposited the full sale price plus the mandatory additional 10%, as the law requires, along with their pre-emption application.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that depositing the entire sale consideration plus 10% extra along with the pre-emption application is a mandatory, non-negotiable precondition under Section 8 of the Act, without it, the application cannot even be entertained, let alone proceed to the further inquiry stage under Section 9. Relying on its own earlier decision in Barasat Eye Hospital vs. Kaustabh Mondal, the Court reiterated that the right of pre-emption is a "very weak right" that must be strictly construed, and that a pre-emptor's mere belief that the stated sale price was inflated does not excuse non-compliance with the deposit requirement. Since it was undisputed that the sons had not made the full deposit along with their application, their pre-emption claim was never validly maintainable, regardless of any later deposits made under court orders. The Court set aside both the Calcutta High Court's and the First Appellate Court's orders and dismissed the pre-emption application, permitting the sons to withdraw whatever amounts they had deposited.

Lesson Learnt

Anyone seeking to exercise a statutory right of pre-emption over a family or jointly-owned property must deposit the full sale price plus the required extra percentage together with the application itself: a partial or later deposit will not save an otherwise non-compliant claim.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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