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Mrs. Radha Goyal vs. Gaurav Goyal & Anr.

Regular First Appeal · 2026:DHC:8963Decided 9 Oct 2026New Delhi Bench
RFA 656/2024CNR: DLHC010650132024
Justice Neena Bansal Krishna

Background

After their parents died without leaving a will (according to her), a woman sued her brother and sister for partition of family properties and a family ice-cream business. Her brother claimed the properties had actually been bequeathed to him alone by their parents' wills, which she had never legally challenged. Over several years, the trial court repeatedly asked her to properly value each part of her claim and pay the correct court fees, but she kept filing amendments that avoided doing so clearly.

Decision Breakdown

The trial court eventually rejected her lawsuit outright for failing to comply with court-fee and valuation requirements, and the High Court agreed. It held that she was never in actual possession of the disputed properties (so she owed proportionate court fees, not just a flat fee), and that she had known about the wills favouring her brother for years but let the three-year window to challenge them expire before suing. The Court emphasized that rejecting a plaint under Order VII Rule 11 CPC is a serious step but was justified here given repeated, specific opportunities to fix the defects that went unused. The appeal was dismissed.

Lesson Learnt

In property partition cases, a plaintiff must clearly state the value of each relief claimed and pay the correct court fees when directed to, and must challenge any will standing in the way of their claim within the legal time limit, or risk losing the right to litigate the dispute at all.

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