Transfer of Property Act

The petitioners, a company dealing in the purchase and resale of life‑insurance policies, challenged LIC's circulars of 2003 and 2005 that refused to register assignments of policies to firms engaged in trading such policies. They argued that Section 38 of the Insurance Act, 1938 makes policies transferable and assigna…

Kalidas Chunnilal Patel, deceased and represented by his legal heirs, sued his tenant Ranchhodbhai Govindbhai for arrears of rent, notice charges, mesne profits and eviction on the ground of bona‑fide personal need. During the suit, a government notification brought the Bombay Rents (Hotel and Lodging House) Rates Cont…

The appellant, a grandson of the original defendant, was impleaded as a legal heir in execution proceedings after the original defendant died. He later filed an interlocutory application under Order I Rule 10 seeking deletion of his name, claiming he was not a legal heir and that he enjoyed tenancy rights under Section…

The appellant, a seller, entered into an agreement for sale of immovable property with the respondent, a purchaser, wherein the purchaser paid Rs.7,00,000 as earnest money. The agreement stipulated that if the purchaser failed to pay the balance consideration by a specified date, the earnest money would be forfeited, w…

The dispute concerned a 183‑bigha parcel of land in Haripur, Nainital, originally leased in 1924 under the Government Grants Act of 1895. The lease was allegedly transferred by a 1947 sale deed, but the deed’s nature—whether it conveyed title or merely lease‑hold rights—was contested. The respondents claimed ownership …

The landlord, Bijay Kumar Manish Kumar HUF, sued tenant Ashwin Bhanulal Desai for non‑payment of rent on four premises where the lease, executed in 1991‑92, was allegedly forfeited due to arrears. The tenant remained in possession and the landlord sought payment of "monthly occupational charges" at the prevailing marke…

The cement companies, claiming to be ryotwari pattadars, challenged a Tamil Nadu Government order that required them to pay full royalty and dead rent on mining leases, arguing they were entitled to a 50% concessional rate. The High Court had partially restrained the State from demanding royalty above 50% for patta lan…

The Uttar Pradesh Financial Corporation (UPFC) seized the assets of a defaulting borrower under Section 29 of the State Financial Corporation Act, 1951 and sold them at a public auction. M/s. Rana Girders Ltd., the highest bidder, purchased the land, building and plant‑machinery free from encumbrances, with a clause in…

The State of Uttarakhand appealed a High Court order that directed the State Government to pay Rs.70,99,951.50 as compensation to the successors of an unauthorised occupier of a leased land. The land had been declared unauthorised occupation in 1972 and the State had successfully evicted the occupier under the U.P. Pub…

The plaintiff filed a suit in 1964 seeking declaration of title and possession of agricultural land based on a will executed by Ajuddhibai. The trial court upheld the will, rejected alleged sale deeds and granted possession to the plaintiff. The defendants appealed, and the High Court reversed the decision, also reject…

The Haryana Government issued a notification under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 to acquire land for an industrial township, after which many landholders sold their land to private builders at inflated prices. The State later dropped the acquisition on 24 August 2007 and again on 29 January 2010, allegedly to benefit …

Tapas Kumar Samanta filed an eviction suit against Sarbani Sen and others alleging non‑payment of rent, personal necessity to demolish the existing building for his own residence and business, waste, nuisance and unauthorized construction, invoking Section 108 of the Transfer of Property Act. The trial court dismissed …

The appellant, who claimed to be a tenant of a flat mortgaged by the borrower to Central Bank of India, sought to stay the bank’s possession of the secured asset under the SARFAESI Act. The bank had issued a notice under Section 13(2) of the SARFAESI Act and obtained an order under Section 14 for physical possession. T…

The landlord (appellant) obtained permission from the Rent Controller under the C.P. and Berar Letting of Houses and Rent Control Order, 1949 and issued a notice under Section 108 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 before filing a civil suit for eviction. The tenant (respondent) contended that the premises fell unde…

The appellants, Ambikapathi Ammal & Anr., claimed ownership of certain lands on the basis of Patta No.1 and sued Sri Kandaswamy Koil (by its executive officer) for possession. The respondents argued that they were permanent ryots under the Tamil Nadu Estates Land Act, 1908, that the land formed part of an estate abolis…

Aftaruddin, an under‑raiyat, allegedly executed a sale deed on 11‑Jan‑1971 transferring his suit land to Mamataj Begam, the daughter of the raiyat Sayed Jama Kazi. The deed described Aftaruddin as a raiyat, apparently to evade the prohibition under Section 108 of the Tripura Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act, 1960 whic…

The landlord Atma Ram Properties sued its tenant Oriental Insurance for possession, claiming that a huge property tax payable under the New Delhi Municipal Council Act, 1994 could be treated as arrears of rent, raising the total rent above Rs.3,500 per month and thereby removing the tenant’s protection under the Delhi …

The Municipal Corporation of Meerut awarded contracts to several appellants for the collection of "Tehbazari" (a local toll) and parking fees. The appellants challenged the demand of the Collector of Stamps that the contracts be treated as leases and attract stamp duty at Rs.70 per thousand. The High Court upheld the C…

The appellant, a former Uttar Pradesh judicial officer who retired voluntarily and joined the Central Administrative Tribunal, was subjected to a departmental enquiry for alleged misconduct in awarding excessive compensation under the Land Acquisition Act, allegedly favouring subsequent purchasers. The enquiry found ch…

The case involved a dispute between two brothers over a property under development, where the elder brother (the plaintiff) claimed exclusive ownership and sought a mandatory interim injunction to restrain the younger brother and his son from acting as his attorneys, entering the property, and operating related bank ac…

Kiran Devi claimed that she was the rightful tenant of a hotel premises, asserting that the tenancy belonged to a joint Hindu family and that the Karta could not surrender it without the consent of other coparceners. The Patna High Court held that the tenancy was a joint family business, barred the Wakf Board from acce…

The respondents Akhlaq Hussain and Saqir Hussain exchanged a small parcel of land for a larger agricultural parcel owned by Mangal Singh, a member of a Scheduled Tribe, through a registered deed. The Assistant Collector declared the exchange void under Sections 157‑B and 161 of the U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Ref…

The Supreme Court examined appeals by Mahalaxmi Co‑operative Housing Society Ltd. against a High Court order that set aside trial‑court orders allowing the society to record a pursis (settlement) under Order XXIII Rule 3 of the CPC in two civil suits concerning land ownership. The Court held that the pursis was valid b…