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Duni Chand & Others vs. Vikram Singh and Others

Not available · 2024 INSC 516Decided 10 Jul 2024
Not available
Justice Vikram Nath · Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra

Background

Beli Ram owned land that his nephew Tota Ram had cultivated for decades while also caring for him. In 1988 Beli Ram executed a registered Will bequeathing the land to Tota Ram, and died in 1994. Tota Ram remained in possession until Vikram Singh, relying on a second Will dated 16.05.1994, got the land mutated in his name and began interfering with possession and transferring parts of it. The dispute reached the Himachal Pradesh High Court, which partly upheld and partly overturned the findings of the courts below, prompting cross-appeals by both sides to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court examined the two competing Wills and agreed with the concurrent findings of the first Appellate Court and the High Court that the second Will dated 16.05.1994 (relied on by Vikram Singh) was surrounded by suspicious circumstances and was rightly held invalid. Once that Will fell, Vikram Singh acquired no title, and consequently the buyers who purchased from him could get no better title than he had. The Court therefore allowed the appeal filed by the original plaintiffs (Tota Ram's side), set aside the part of the High Court's judgment that had favoured the purchasers, and restored the trial court's decree in full. Vikram Singh's own appeal was dismissed.

Lesson Learnt

A Will surrounded by suspicious circumstances (such as appearing suddenly to override an earlier registered Will) will not be upheld by courts, and no one, including a subsequent purchaser, can acquire better title to property than what the seller genuinely possessed.

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

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