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S. Satinder Pal Singh vs. Smt. Maninder Kaur

Regular First Appeal · 2026:DHC:8468Decided 29 Sept 2026New Delhi Bench
RFA 210/2024CNR: DLHC010147202024
Justice Neena Bansal Krishna

Background

The respondent-wife, sole registered owner (since 2006) of a property in Rajouri Garden, Delhi, had let her husband (the appellant) occupy its first floor gratuitously after the couple became estranged; she later revoked this permission and sued for possession, mesne profits and an injunction. The husband claimed the property was actually bought from the undivided profits of an oral partnership business ("M/s Nagpal's") the couple allegedly ran together, and that he was a joint owner, not a mere licensee.

Decision Breakdown

The trial court found the husband produced no documentary evidence of any partnership and that all business records (franchise correspondence, arbitration awards, etc.) described the wife as sole proprietor; it decreed possession, Rs. 15,000/month mesne profits (based on the husband's own admission about comparable rent), and a permanent injunction. The High Court dismissed the appeal, holding the husband's own shifting accounts of the "partnership" undermined his case, that being the plaintiff's spouse did not entitle him to remain in the property against her wishes once permission was revoked, and that no documentary evidence supported his claimed co-ownership.

Lesson Learnt

A spouse allowed to occupy a solely-owned property "gratuitously" has no independent right to remain once that permission is withdrawn, and unsubstantiated oral claims of a joint business or co-ownership will not defeat a registered sole owner's title.

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