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TRANSFER BY CO-OWNERS[1]
(Ss. 44, 45 and 47)
QUESTION BANK
Q.1. Explain the provisions as to transfer by co-owner. What are the provisions as to transfer by co-owners.
SHORT NOTES
1) Tenants in common and Joint tenants.
Table of Content
Dwelling House- Exception:- 45
Joint Tenants and Tenants in Common:- 46
III. Presumption as to extent of share transferred from joint property (S. 47):- 47
The parsons are said to be co-owners when the property is owned by them jointly.[2]. Their share may be equal or unequal. In co-owned property, until the partition is effected and their respective shares are separately possessed, every co-owner is entitled to common enjoyment of property.[3]. Joint Hindu Family property is the best example of co-ownership.
I. Transfer of his share by one co-owner (S. 44):-
Where a co-owner transfers his share, the transferee is substituted in the property to the extent of the share transferred by him. He gets the right (i) to common enjoyment of the joint property together with other co-owners and (ii) to ask for partition of undivided share.
The transferee, steps into the shoes of the transferor, and therefore, he is saddled with the same rights and liabilities as that of the transferor.
Dwelling House- Exception[4]:-
The dwelling house is an exception to the above-mentioned rule. It curtails the rights of the transferee. The exception is that where the transferee gets a share in a residential house owned by the joint family members, he is not entitled to common enjoyment or common possession of the property.
Legislators’ intention in carving the exception of dwelling houses seems to be to avoid the unwarranted interference of strangers in the family.
There is no ban on transferring an undivided share in the family’s dwelling house; however, the transferee does not have the right of joint possession or common enjoyment of the house.
The legislature’s intention in carving the exception of dwelling houses seems to be to avoid the unwarranted interference of strangers in a family.
In Dorb Cawasji Warden v. Coomi Sorab Warden[5]
Facts—All family members lived in a house. After one of the brothers died, his widow and son sold their share to a stranger.
Held– The Court ordered an injunction against the stranger not to disturb the common dwelling of other members of the family, as stated under the exceptional clause of S. 44.
Right of transferee:-
The transferee of joint share in the dwelling house is entitled to partition.
II. Presumption as to share of interest in joint transfer (S. 45):-
When the property is transferred to two or more persons, it is called as a joint transfer. In such joint transfers, determining the share of each transferee is very important. If the transferee determines their share at the time of transfer, no question comes; however, if their share is not determined, the Act lays down a rule under S. 45 to presume the same.
As per S. 45, where consideration is paid by the transferees –
(i) From a common fund, the interest of each transfer shall be identical to their interest (or share) in a common fund.
(ii) from their separate funds, the transferee takes an interest in the property in proportion to their respective share in whole consideration.
However, in the absence of evidence to show-
(i) the respective interest of the transferees in the common fund, or
(ii) the share which they respectively advanced in consideration,
-the transferees shall be presumed to have an equal interest in the property.
Joint Tenants[6] and Tenants in Common[7]:-
Joint tenancy is the ownership of property in common by several persons having a right of survivorship, i.e. on the death of one of the joint tenants, the property vests[8] in the survivor or survivors to the exclusion of the heirs of the deceased joint tenant.
The tenancy-in-common arises when two or more persons are entitled to the property in such a manner that they have an undivided possession but distinct estate (i.e. title) in equal or unequal shares. No one of them is entitled to the exclusive possession of any part of the property, each being entitled to the whole in common with the others. On the death of any of them, his heirs succeed to the property left by the deceased. In short, joint tenancy means joint ownership.[9] with the right of survivorship, and tenancy-in-common means joint possession with separate ownership without the right of survivorship[10].
In fact, the concepts of ‘joint tenancy’ and ‘tenancy in common’ are prevalent in English law. In fact, the concept of ‘joint tenancy’ is unknown in India except for Joint Hindu Family property in very rare cases if the deceased does not survive by class one heir or lineal descendent. In India, the concept of tenancy in common prevails.
III. Presumption as to the extent of share transferred from joint property (S. 47):-
When the co-owners transfer part of their property without mentioning how many portions of each owner’s interest are transferred, the law lays down the rules under S. 47 to presume the same.
According to S. 47, when the co-owners of an immovable property transfer a part of the share of the property without specifying whose share has been transferred and to what extent? the share of each co-owner is reduced proportionately.
Illustration
A, the owner of an eight-anna share, and B and C, each the owner of a four-anna share in mauza Sultanpur, transfer a two-anna share in the mauza to D, without specifying from which of their several shares the transfer is made. To give effect to the transfer, one-anna share is taken from the share of A and half an anna share from each of the shares of B and C.
However, if the share of co-owners is equal in the transferred property, then their share in the remaining property will be reduced equally.
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[1] सह-मालिकों द्वारा स्थानांतरण
[2] अशा व्यकतींना सहमालक म्हटले जाते जेव्हा एखादी मिळकत त्यांचे एकत्रीत मालकीची असते
[ऐसे व्याक्तीयोको सह-मालिक कहा जाता है जब संपत्ति उनके द्वारा संयुक्त रूप से स्वामित्व में होती है|]
[3] अशा एकत्र मालकीतील मिळकतीवर सर्व मालकांचा एकत्र अधिकार असतो जोपर्यंत ती मिळकत वाटपाने प्रत्यकाचे नांवे वेगळी व स्वतंत्र केली जात नाही तोपर्यंत.,
[सह-स्वामित्व वाली संपत्ति में जब तक विभाजन प्रभावी नहीं हो जाता और उनके संबंधित शेयर अलग-अलग नहीं होते, तब तक प्रत्येक सह-मालिक संपत्ति के सामान्य आनंद का हकदार होता है।-]
[4] आवास गृह- अपवाद [राहत्या घराचा अपवाद]
[5] AIR 1990 SC 867
[6] एकत्र मालकी व एकत्र कब्जा; एखादया सह-हिस्सेदाराचा वाटपापुर्वि मृत्यु झाल्यास वारसांना हिस्सा मिळत नाही. [समेकन और समेकन; एकादया सह-हिस्सेदाराचा वाटपापुर्वी मौत झाल्यास वारसांना हिस्सा मिळत नाही]
[7]वेगवेगळी मालकी व एकत्र कब्जा एखादया सह-हिस्सेदाराचा वाटपापुर्वि मृत्यु झाल्यास वारसांना हिस्सा मिळतो
[अलग स्वामित्व और संयुक्त कब्ज़ा; यदि आवंटन से पहले सह-हिस्सेदार की मृत्यु हो जाती है, तो उत्तराधिकारियों को हिस्सा मिल जाता है]
[8] संयुक्त मालकांपैकी एकाच्या मृत्यूनंतर, संपत्ती वाचलेल्यांच्या हातात असते आणि मृत संयुक्त मालकाच्या वारसांकडे जात नाही. [संयुक्त मालिकों में से किसी एक की मृत्यु के बाद, संपत्ति जीवित बचे लोगों के हाथों में रहती है और मृत संयुक्त मालिक के उत्तराधिकारियों के पास नहीं जाती है।]
[9] एकत्र मालकी की ज्यामध्ये हयातीचाा नियम असतो [संयुक्त स्वामित्व जिसमे उत्तरजीवित्वा का नियम होता है| ]
[10] स्वतंत्र मालकी परंतु एकत्र ताबा असतो व ज्यामध्ये हयातीचा नियम नसतो, [युक्त स्वामित्व” का अर्थ है उत्तरजीविता के अधिकार के साथ संयुक्त स्वामित्व और “समान्य स्वामित्व” का अर्थ है उत्तरजीविता के अधिकार के बिना अलग स्वामित्व के साथ संयुक्त कब्जा।]