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Sheikh Yakub (D) by LRs. v. Sakinabi (D) by LRs.

Civil Appeal · 2018 INSC 598Decided 11 Jul 2018
Civil Appeal No. 8505 of 2009
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul

Background

The dispute concerned a claim by one Mariyambi (since deceased, represented by her legal heirs) that she had received an oral gift of certain property. She later executed a sale deed in 1978 purporting to deal with that property, but the deed did not trace her title back to the claimed oral gift, and the official Record of Rights also did not support her claim. Both the trial court and the High Court had found that she failed to prove the oral gift ever took place, and the matter reached the Supreme Court by way of a civil appeal against those concurrent findings.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court observed that despite being the person who stood to benefit from the alleged gift, Mariyambi herself had not testified to prove that the oral gift actually occurred, and there was no supporting documentary evidence, neither the sale deed nor the land records, to back her claim. Since both lower courts had already concurrently found against the oral gift, and no additional counter-evidence was placed before the Supreme Court to disturb those findings, the Court held there was no justification to interfere. The appeal was accordingly dismissed, leaving the concurrent findings of the trial court and High Court undisturbed.

Lesson Learnt

A claim of an oral gift of property is difficult to sustain in court without either the beneficiary's own testimony or supporting documentary evidence (such as revenue/land records); courts will not disturb concurrent findings of two lower courts rejecting such a claim in the absence of fresh, credible counter-evidence.

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

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