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Rajeev Gupta and Others v. Prashant Garg and Others

Civil Appeal · 2025 INSC 552Decided 23 Apr 2025
C.A. No.-011061-011061-2024 (arising out of SLP(C) No. 2998 of 2022)
Justice Dipankar Datta · Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra

Background

A family property in Muzaffarnagar was allegedly bequeathed by a common ancestor's 1951 will to two of his three sons, with the third son, Ramesh Chand, receiving only a pharmacy business. Decades of family litigation followed, during which Ramesh Chand, while an injunction suit against him was pending, sold portions of the property to the appellants in 1992, who then took possession and later got the land mutated in their names. In 2003, descendants of one of the will's beneficiaries sued to cancel those 1992 sale deeds and recover possession, claiming Ramesh Chand never had any real ownership right to sell.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the 2003 suit was filed far beyond the three-year limitation period for cancelling a registered sale deed (the clock started running from 1992, when the plaintiffs had knowledge of the sale and the buyers took possession), so it was correctly dismissed as time-barred. The Court also found that a sale made during pending litigation (lis pendens) is not automatically void, it only remains subject to the outcome of that litigation, and here the earlier "injunction suit" appeared collusive, with no proof the buyers even knew of the injunction. Further, the plaintiffs never properly proved the 1951 will as required by law (calling an attesting witness), so their claim of title through the will failed, and the appellants were held to be bona fide purchasers protected under Section 41 of the Transfer of Property Act. The trial court's dismissal of the suit was restored, reversing two lower appellate rulings in the plaintiffs' favour.

Lesson Learnt

A property buyer who purchases from someone shown as the owner in official records, without knowledge of any defect in title, can be protected as a "bona fide purchaser", and anyone seeking to cancel a registered sale deed must act within the three-year limitation period and must properly prove any will or document they rely on, including by calling a witness who saw it signed.

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

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