R. KUPPAYEE AND ANR.versusRAJA GOUNDER

                      R. KUPPAYEE AND ANR.                                A
                                   v.
                           RAJA GOUNDER

                         DECEMBER l 0, 2003

               [R.C. LAHOTI AND ASHOK BHAN, JJ.J                          B
      Hindu Law-Gift of ancestral property by the father in favour of his
daughters through registered settlement deed-Father later claiming that
the settlement deed got executed by misrepresentation and fraud-Plea by
father that his signature was obtained as a witness to a sale deed and not C
for execution of settlement deed and that he has no capacity to gift to his
daughters the Joint family property-Suit by daughters for permanent
injunction for restraining the father from interfering with peaceful
possession-Trial Court dismissed the suit-Confirmed by First Appellate
Court and High Court Held, on facts and evidence, the gift was not vitiated D
by fraud and misrepresentation-Further, father has capacity to gift
ancestral property to daughters to a reasonable extent.

      The respondent, by a registered settlement deed, settled the suit
property to his appellant-daughters out of natural love and affection
for them. After 5 years, the respondent asked the appellants to vacate E
the property and tried to trespass into the property. The appellants
filed a suit for permanent injunction before trial court for restraining
the respondent and his associates from interfering with the appellant's
peaceful possessi~n and enjoyment of the suit property. The respond-
ent resisted the suit contending that the suit property was an ancestral F
property; that settlement deed was not executed in favour of the
respondents; that the appellants misrepresented the respondent taking
advantage of his addiction to liquor for signing the sale deed of the
property purchased by the appellants as an attesting witness and
instead got the settlement deed signed. The trial court dismissed the
suit of the appellants holding that the settlement deed was got executed G
by misrepresentation and that the respondent had no power to make
a gift of a part of his ancestral properties in favour of his daughters.
This was confirmed by the first appellate court and the High Court.

     In appeal, the appellants contended that the finding of fact by the H
                                   605
    606                SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A   lower courts regarding execution of settlement deed is vitiated due to
    misreading of the statement of one of the attesting witnesses: that the
    respondent, being the karta of the Joint Hindu family had the authority
    to make a gift of ancestral immoveable property to a reasonable extent
    to his daughters.
B        The respundent contended that he had no authority to gift the
    only ancestral property possessed by the family in favour of his
    daughters.

          Allowing the appeal, the Court
c
           HELD : 1.1. Finding recorded by the trial court clearly shows that
    the court misread and misconstrued the testimony of the attesting
    witness PW 2. In his deposition, PW 2 has clearly stated that he ·was
    invited by the respondent to be a witness. He has nowhere .stated that
D   the respondent was taken for affixing signatures as witness. If respond~
    ent was to be a witness, then there was no need to ask PW2 and other
    witness to accompany the respondent or for them to sign the document.
    PW 2 also deposed that the respondent affixed his signatures on the
    settlement deed (Ex Al) after reading the same, that he has signed
    Exhibit Al as a witness and that he knew the respondent. Suggestion
E   put to him that signatures of the respondent on Exhibit Al wer~
    obtained by threat was denied. The trial court did not refer to this par~
    of. testimony of PW 2 at all. In the cross-examination, PW
                                               "'           '   .
                                                                    2 has  stated
                                                                       .. . .  '

    that the fact that the respondent had invited him for signing as a witness
    has been read to him as if PW 2 had stated t~at th~ respondent was
F   taken for affixing signature~ as a witness to some_ documents on the date
    when the deed of settlement Exhibi_t Al was executed.,.This i§ a c~ear
     misreading of the testimony of PW 2. The trial court also failed to ~ote
    that the evidence of respondent lacked total credibility e~pecially in th<;
    light of his conduct i_n denying his signature on the settl_ement deed,
G   vakalatnama as well as on the summons ser.ved' . on him.
                                                    ~    .  . Projection
                                                                  . .       made
    by the respondent in his testim~ny that the appellants taking advantage
    of the fact that he was a drunkard got the settlement deed signed
    fraudulently cannot be accepted. Respondent took no steps to g~t the
    settlemen_t deed cancell~d though, the appellants had been living in the
H   house for tive years after the execution of the. settlement deed. In his
                    R. KUPPA YEE v. RAJA GOUNDER                      607

· · statement he does not say that he did not know about the execution of A
    the settlement deed. Plea taken by him that he was taken to the Sub-
    Registrar's office to be a witness to a sale deed by his son-in-law cannot
    be accepted as it has not been proved on record that the respondent's
    son-in-law had in fact purchased any house site. Findings recorded by
    the trial court and upheld by the First appellate court and the High B
    Court based on misreading of evidence are liable to be set aside. The
    findings recorded on misreading of evidence being perverse cannot be
    sustained by law. [612-E-H; 613-A-D)

       2.1. A father can make a gift of ancestral immoveable property
  within reasonable limits, keeping in view, the total extent of the C
  property held by the family in favour of his, daughter at the time of
  her marriage or even long after her marriage. [617-E-F)

        2.2. Question as to whether a particular gift is within reasonable
  limits or not has to be judged according to the status of the family at D
  the time of making a gift, the extent of the immoveable property owned
  by the family and the extent of property gifted. No hard and fast rule
  prescribing quantitative limits of such a gift can be laid down. The
  answer to such a question would vary from family to family. The
  question of reasonableness or otherwise of the gift made has to be E
  assessed vis-a-vis the total value of the proper~' held by the family.
  Simply because the gifted property is a house, it cannot be held that
  the gift made was not within the reasonable limits. It is basicah; a
  question of fact. If on facts, it is found that the gift was not within
  reasonable limits, such a gift would not be upheld. It was for the F
  respondent to plead and prove that the gift made by the father was
  excessive and unreasonable keeping in view the total holding of the
  family. In the absence of any pleadings or proof on these points, it
  cannot be held that the gift made in this case was not within the
  reasonable limits of the property held by the family. The respon~ent
  has failed to plead and prove that the gift made was to unreasonable G
  extent keeping in view, the total holding of the family. The first
  appellate court and the High Court thus erred in non-suiting the
  appellants on this account. [617-G-H; 618-A-E]

        2.3. The respondent had the capacity to make a gift to a reasonable H
                                                                             .l
    608                SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003) SUPP. 6 S.C.R.
A extent of ancestral immoveable property in favour of his daughters. The
    gift was not vitiated by fraud of misrepresentation. The appellants are
    held to be the absolute owners or the suit property and the respondent is
    injuncted from interfering with the peaceful possession and enjoyment
    of the suit property by the appellant perpetually. (618-F-G)
B        Kamala Devi v. Bachulal Gupta, (1957] SCR 452; Guramma
    Bhratar Chanbasappa Deshmukh & Anr. v. Malappa, (1964) 4 SCR 497
    and Ammathayee Ammal & Anr. v. Kumaresan & Ors., [1967] l SCR
    353, referred to.

c MLJAnivillah Sundararamaya v. Cher/a Seethamma & Ors., (1911) 21
     695; Pugalila Vettorammal & Anr. v. Vettor Goundan, (1912)' MLJ
    321; Devalaktuni Sithamahalakshmamma & Ors. v. Pamulpaii Kotayya
    & Ors., AIR (1936) Madras 825; Karuppa Gounder & Ors. v •. Palaniammal
    & Ors., (1963) 1 MLJ 86; The Commissioner of Gift Tax 'V. Tej Nath,
D   (1972) PLR (74) land Tara Sabzlani v. Raghunath, AIR (1963) Orissa
    59, referred to.

         CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. ·16757 of
    1996.

E        From the Judgment and Order dated 28.6.91 of the Madras High
    Court in S.A. No. 970 of 1991.

          Gaurav Aggarwal and Prashant Kumar for the Appellants.

          R. Soundravardan, K.K. Mani, Ms. Manika Pandey for the Respond•
F ent.
          The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

          BHAN, J. : Aggrieved by the judgment and decree passed by the
    courts below in dismissing the suit filed by the plaintiff-appellants
G   (hereinafter referred to as the "appellants"), the appellants have come up
    in this appeal.

          Shortly stated the facts are:

          The appellants are the daughters of the defendant-respondent (here-
H   inafter referred to as the "respondent"). By a registered settlement deed,
            R. KUPPA YEE v. RAJA GOUNDER [BHAN, J.]                    609

Exhibit A- l dated 29th of August, 1985, the respondent hereinabove settled A
an extent of 12 cents of land comprised in S.No. 113/2, Thathagapatti
Village, Salem District in favour of the appellants. As per recitals in the
settlement deed, the settlement was made by the respondent out of natural
love and affection for the appellants and the possession of the property was
handed over to them on the day the settlement deed was executed. The B
schedule of settlement deed shows that the total exterit of the property
owned by the family was 3 .16 acres. The gift was made of 12 cents along
with Mangalore tiled house standing on the gifted land. It was also stated
 in the settlement deed that in future neither the respondent nor any other
male or female heirs would have a right over the settled property.
                                                                             c
      After nearly 5 years, on 22nd April, 1990, respondent and his
associates asked the appellants to vacate the property and tried to trespass
into the property. Because of the attempt made by the respondent to
trespass into the property, the appellants filed the Original Suit No. 451
of 1990 in the Court of District Muns if, Salem seeking relief of restraining D
the respondent and his associates from interfering with the appellant's
peaceful possession and enjoyment of the suit prorerty in any way by way
of a permanent injunction, or, for grant of relief deemed fit in the
circumstances of the case. Respondent resisted the suit and in the written
statement filed by him, he took the stand that he had not executed any E
settlement deed. That his son-in-law i.e., husband of appellant No. I had
 purchased a house site and the respondent was taken to the Registrar's
 office to witness the sale deed. That he was used to taking liquor and taking
 advantage of his addiction to liquor the appellants and their respective
 husbands fraudulently by misrepresentation instead got the sale deed F
 executed from him. The property in dispute being Joint Hindu Family
 property consisting of himself and his son could not be gifted under any
circumstances.

      In support of their respective pleas, the parties led their evidences.
The appellant No.I steppd into the witness box as PW-I. She admitted G
that the property was ancestral. That her father had settled the property
on her and her sister of his own will out of nature love and affection for
them. PW-2, the attesting witness to Exhibit A-1 stated that he knew the
respondent. While he was standing on the road and talking to some
persons, he was called by the respondent to witness the document. He went H
    610                 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003) SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A to Sub-Registrar's office along with the respondent. Respondent put his
    signatures on Exhibit A-I after reading the same. That he (himself) and
    Govindawamy signed Exhibit A- I as witnesses. Govindawamy has died.
    In the cross-examination he stated that he did not know the contents of the
    document, Exhibit A-1. He showed his ignorance as to when, where or
B   in whose name the stamp papers were purchased. He denied having
    knowledge of the fact as to whether the respondent was in the habit of
    drinking liquor. Respondent in order to prove his case stepped in the
    witness box as DW-1. He stated that the property was a Joint Hindu Family
    property as the same had been purchased with the sale proceeds of the
C   ancestral property. That his son-in-law who was working in TVS had
    purchased some property and he was taken by his son-in-law to sign as
    a witness. He denied having executed the settlement deed in favour of the
    appellants. He denied that he knew PW-2. It was stated that the possession
    of the appellants was permissive as they were allowed to reside in the house
    to enable them to send their children to the school. He denied his signatures
D   on the settlement deed, on the 'v.akalatnama' given by him to his counsel
    as well as on the summons sent to him by the ':')Urt. It was denied that
    he knew English. It was also stated by him that his signatures were obtained
    fraudulently on the pretext of signing as a witness on the document by
    which his son-in-law had purch~ed a house site. That the total extent of
E   the family holding was 3.16 acres of land. He admitted that his son was
    residing separately for the last 3 to 4 years but denied that he was retracting
    from the settlement deed on the advise of his son. That he was in the habit
    of drinking.

          No other evidence was led by any of the parties.
F
          The trial court believed the evidence of the respondent. It was held
    that the respondent was taken to the Sub-Registrar's office to witness a
    document whereas a deed of settlement was got executed from him.
    Testimony of PW-2, the attesting witness was discarded. It was held that
G   the deposition of PW-2 in fact supported the case put forth by the
    respondent to the effect that the respondent was taken to the Sub-
    Registrar' s office to sign as a witness. The trial court further held that since
    the property in dispute was ancestral in nature, the respondent had no
    power/authority to make a gift of a part of the ancestral property in favour
H   of his daughters. The suit was dismissed. The order of the trial court was
               R. KUPPAYEE v. RAJA GOUNDER [BHAN, J.]                 611

affirmed by the First Appellate Court as well as by the High Court, A
aggrieved against which the present appeal has been filed.

     It is submitted by the counsel for the appellant that the findings
recorded by the courts below are wrong on facts as well as in law. Finding
of fact regarding due execution of Exhibit A-1 is vitiated due to misreading B
of the statement of the attesting witness, PW-2. Thal th~ father being the
Karta had the authority to make a gift of ancestral immovable property to
a reasonable extent out of the Joint Hindu Family property in favour of
his daughters. That such authority of the father is recognised in old Hindu
Text Books as well as by the courts in recent times. Counsel appearing
for the respondent has controve1ted the submissions made by the counsel C
for the appellants. It was argued that there was no misreading of evidence
and that the finding recorded by the courts below on facts could not be
interfered with by this Court at this stage of the proceedings. The
respondent had no authority to make a gift of part of the _ancestral
immovable property and in any case he could not have gifted the only D
residential house possessed by the family.

         The two points which arise for consideration in this appeal are:

         (i)    whether the judgment of the courts below are vitiated
                because of the misreading of the evidence of PW-2, the      E
                attesting witness to the settlement deed;

         (ii)   whether the gift/settlement made by the father in favour of
                his married daughters of a reasonable extent of immovable
                property out of the Joint Hindu Family property is valid. F

      The trial court believed the evidence of the respondent and dismissed
the suit. For arriving at this conclusion the trial court held that if the
respondent had the intention of executing a deed of settlement in respect
of the suit property in favour of the appellants, then at least he would have
taken his son Ramasamy for affixing his signatures as a witness to the deed. G
Since it was not done the document Exhibit A-1 could not be relied on.
The statement of PW-2 was construed to mean as if he had stated that the
respondent was taken for affixing his signatures as a witness on the date
when the settlement deed, Exhibit A-1 was execu~ed. We have carefully
perused the statements made by PW-2 as well as DW-1 and in our view H
    612                 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.
A the trial court misread and misconstrued the testimony of PW-2. In the
    course of cross-examination PW-2 had stated as follows:-

             "Only the defendant invited me for signing as witness. On the
             way Govindasamy was also invited while he was found standing
             there..... While going towards the Sub-Registrar's office, the
B            Defendant saw and invited me to sign as witness."

         The trial court in his judgment has misconstrued the above statement
    and recorded the following finding:-

C            "PW-2 had given evidence that the Defendant was taken for
             affixing signature as witness on the date when the deed of
             settlement exhibit A 1 was executed."

             The trial court also held that:-

D            "If only the Defendant had executed the deed of settlement in
             respect of the suit property in favour of his daughters i.e. the
             Plaintiffs, he would have atleast taken his son Ramasamy for
             affixing his signature as witness. This factor is also nOt in
             consonance with the true nature and bona fides of exhibit A 1."
E
          Finding recorded by the trial court clearly shows that the court
    misread and misconstrued the testimony of PW-2. PW-2 in his deposition
    has clearly stated that he was invited by the respondent to be a witness.
    He has no where stated that defendant (respondent herein) was taken for
F   affixing signatures as a witness. If respondent was to be a witness then
    there was no need to ask PW-2 and Govindasamy to accompany the
    respondent or for them to sign the document. He also deposed that
    respondent affixed his signatures on Exhibit Al after reading the same.
    That he (himself} has signed Exhibit A 1 as a witness. That he knew the
    respondent. Suggestion put to him that signatures of the respondent on
G   Exhibit A 1 were obtained by threat was denied. The trial court did not refer
    to this part of testimony of PW-2 at all. The question put to him in the cross-
    examination which has been reproduced above wherein PW-2 has stated
    that the respondent had invited him for signing as a witness has been read
    to him as if PW-2 had stated that the respondent was taken for affixing
H   signatures as a witness to some documents on the date when the deed of
            R. KUPPAYEE v. RAJA GOUNDER [BHAN, J.]                     613

settlement Exhibit A-1 was executed. This is a clear misreading of the A
testimony of PW-2. The trial court also failed to note that the evidence of
respondent as DW-1 lacked total credibility especially in the light of his
conduct in denying his signature on the settlement deed, vakalatnama as
well as on the summons served on hiin. Projection made by the respondent
in his testimony that the appellants taking advantage of the fact that he was B
a drunkard got the settlement deed, Exhibit A-1 sig11ed fraudulently cannot
be accepted. Respondent took no steps to get the settlement deed cancelled
though, the appellants had been living in the house for five years after the
execution of the settlement deed. In his statement he does not say that he
did not know about the execution of the settlement deed. Plea taken by him C
that he was taken to the Sub-Registrar's office to be a witness to a sale
deed by his son-in-law cannot be accepted as it has not been proved on
record that the respondent's son-in-law had in fact purchased any house
site. Findings recorded by the trial court and upheld by the First Appellate
Court and the High Court based on misreading of evidence are liable to
be set aside. The findings recorded on misreading of evidence being D
perverse cannot be sustained in law.

      Coming to the second point, the trial court held that since the property
was ancestral in nature, the respondent had no authority/power to make a
gift of a portion of the ancestral property in favour of his daughters. In E
appeal the First Appellate Court accepted that the father could give away
a small portion of the ancestral property to his daughters out of the total
holding of the family property but since in this case the total extent of
property owned by the family had not been proved it could not be held
that the property gifted by the father was of a reasonable portion of the
total holding of the family. The High Court affirmed the finding recorded F
by the First Appellate Court.

      The High Court of Madras in a series of judgments has taken the view
that father could make a gift within reasonable limits of ancestral immov-
able property to his daughter as a part of his moral obligation at the time G
of her marriage or even thereafter.

     In Anivillah Sundararamaya v. Cher/a Seethamma and others,
(1911) 21.MLJ 695, it was held that a small portion of the ancestral
immovable property could be given to the daughter at the time of her H
    614                SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2003] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.
A   marriage or theteafter and such a gift would be a valid gift. In this case
    8 acres of ancestral immovable property out of200 acres of land possessed
    by the family were given in gift by the father to his daughter after her
    marriage. Upholding the gift it was observed:-

             "P. Narayana Murthi for I st respondent:- The present case is
B
             stronger than Kudutumma v. Narasimhacharyulu, as it is the
             father that has given the property and not the brothers. A gift
             made to the son-in-law belongs also to the daughter - vide
             Ghose's Hindu Law, 2nd Edn., p. 313, Footnote. There is a text
             of Vyasa to that effect. See Ghose, p. 389, for translation; vide
c            p. 360 also vice versa. A gift to the daughter would belong to
             the son-in-law. If it is proper to make gifts at the time of marriage
             it would be equally proper if made afterwards. Though the texts
             do not require gifts to be made to daughters at the time of
             marriage, if made they are not invalid. Churamon Sahu v. Gopi
D            Sahu referred to, where Mookerji J. approves of Kudutamma v.
             Narasimhacharyulu; Bachoo v. Mankuvarhai.

          The same view was taken by the Madras High Court in Pugalia
    Vettorammal and another v. Vettor Goundan, (1912) 22 MLJ 321. In this
E   case it was held that a father could make gift to a reasonable extent of the .
    ancestral immovable property to his daughter. Gift made of 1/6th of the
    total holding of the ancestral property was held to be a valid. The same
    view has later been taken by the Madras High Court in .Devalaktuni
    Sithamahalakshmamma and others v. Pamulpati Kotayya and others, AIR
    (1936) Madras 825 and Karuppa Gounder and others v. Palaniammal and
F   others, (1963) l MLJ 86. A Full Bench of Punjab & Haryana High Court
    in The Commissioner of Gift Tax v. Te) Nath, (1972) PLR (74) I and the
    High Court of Orissa in Tara Sabuani v. Raghunath, AIR (1963) Ori. 59
    have also taken the same view.

G        The powers of the father or the managing member of the joint Hindu
    family vis-a-vis coparcenary property have been summarised in paragraphs
    225, 226 and 258 of Mulla's Hindu Law which reads:-

             "225. Although sons acquire by birth rights equal to those of a
             father in. ancestral property both movable and immovable, the
H
           R. KUPPAYEE v. RAJA GOUNDER [BHAN, J.]                    615

        father has the power of making within reasonable limits gifts of A
        ancestral movable property without the consent of his sons for the
        purpose of performing 'indispensable acts of duty, and for
        purposes prescribed by texts of law, as gifts through affection, .
        support of the family, relief from distress and so forth'.

         226. A Hindu father or other managing member has power to B
         make a gift within reasonable limits of ancestral immovable
         property for 'pious purposes'. However, the alienation must be by
       . an act inter vivas and not by will. A member of a joint family
         cannot dispose of by will a portion of the property even for
         charitable purposes and even ifthe portion bears a small propor- C
         ti on to the entire estate. However, now see section 30 of the Hindu
         Succession Act, 1956.

        258. (1) According to Mitakshara law as applied in all the States,
        no coparcener can dispose of his undivided interest in coparcenary. D
        property by gift. Such transaction being void altogether, there is
        no estoppel or other kind of personal bar which precludes the
        donor from asserting his right to recover the transferred property.
        He may, however, make a gift of his interest with the consent of
        the other coparceners.
                                                                           E
        (2) As to disposition by will after the coming into operation of
        the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, see section 30 of the Act."

      Combined reading of these paragraphs shows that the position in
Hindu law is that whereas the father has the power to gift ancestral F
movables within reasonable limits, he has no such power with regard to
the ancestral immovable property or coparcenary property. He can,
however make a gift within reasonable limits of ancestral. immovable
property for "pious purposes". However, the alienation must be by an act
inter vivas, and not by will. This Court has extended the rule in paragraph G
226 and held that the father was competent to make a gift of immovable
property to a daughter, if the gift is of reasonable ex~ent having regard to
the properties held by the family.

     This Court considered the question of extended meaning given in
numerous decisions for "pious purposes" in Kam la Devi v. Bachulal H
    616                SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A Gupta, (1957] SCR 452. In the said case a Hindu widow in fulfilment of
    an ante-nuptial promise made on the occasion of the settlement of the terms
    of marriage of her daughter, executed a registered deed of gift in respect
    of 4 houses allotted to her share in a partition decree, in favour of her
    daughter as her marriage dowry, after two years of her marriage. The
B   partition decree had given her the right to the income from property but
    she had no right to pa1t with the corpus of the property to the prejudice
    of the reversioners. Her step sons brought a suit for declaration that the
    deed of gift was void and inoperative and could not bind the reversioners.
    The trial court and the High Court dismissed the suit holding that the gift
    was not valid. This Court accepted the appeal and held that the gift made
C   in favour of the daughter was valid in law and binding on the reversioners.

         This point was again examined in depth by this Court in Guramma
    Bhratar Chanbasappa Deshmukh and Another v. Malappa, (1964] 4 SCR
    497 and it was held :-
D
            "The legal position may be summarized thus: The Hindu law texts
            conferred a right upon a daughter or a sister, as the case may be,
            to have a share in the family property at the time of partition. That
             right was lost by efflux of time. But it became crystallized into
            a moral obligation. The father or his representative can make a
E            valid gift, by way of reasonable provision for the maintenance of
             the daughter, regard being had to the financial and other relevant
            circumstances of the family. By custom or by convenience, such
            gifts are made at the time of marriage, but the right of the father
            or his representative to make such a gift is not confined to thq
F           marriage occasion. It is a moral obligation and it continues to
            subsist till it is discharged. Marriage is only a customa1y occasion
            for such a gift. But the obligation can be discharged at any time,
            either during the lifetime of the father or thereafter. It is not
            possible to lay down a hard and fast rule, prescribing the
G           quantitative limits of such a gift as that would depend on the facts
            of each case and it can only be decided by Courts, regard being
             had to the overall picture of the extent of the family estate, the
             number of daughters to be provided for and other paramount
             charges and other similar circumstances. If the father is within
             his rights to make a gift of a reasonable extent of the family
H
           R. KUPPAYEE v. RAJA GOUNDER [BHAN, J.]                      617

        property for the maintenance of a daughter, it cannot be said that A
        the said gift must be made only by one document or only at a
        single point of time. The validity or the reasonableness of a gift
        does not depend upon the plurality of documents but on the power
        of the father to make a gift and the reasonableness of the gift so
        made. If once the power is granted and the reasonableness of the B
        gift is not disputed, the fact that two gift deeds were executed
        instead of one, cannot make the gift anytheless a valid one."
                                                      (Emphasis supplied)

      Extended meaning given to the words "pious purposes" enabling the C
father to make a gift of ancestral immovable property within reasonable
limits to a daughter has not been extended to the gifts made in favour of
other female members of the family. Rather it has been held that husband
could not make any such gift of ancestral property to his wife out of
affection on the principle of"pious purposes". Reference may be made to
Ammathayee Ammal & Another v. Kumaresan & Othe~s, [1967] I SCR D
353. It was observed 'we see no reason to extend the scope of words "pious
purposes" beyond what has already been done in the two decisions of this
Court' and rejected the contention that a husband could make any such gift
of ancestral property to his wife out of affection on the principle of pious
purposes.                                                                    E

     On the authority of the judgments referred to above it can safely be
held that a father can make a gift of ancestral immovable property within
reasonable limits, keeping in view, the total extent of the property held by
the family in favour of his daughter at the time of her marriage or even       F
long after her marriage.

        The only other point, which remains for consideration, is as to
whether a gift made in favour of the appellants was within the reasonable
limits, keeping in view, the total holding of the family. The total property G
held by the family was 3.16 acres. 12 cents would be approximately I/26th
share of the total holding. The share of each daughter would come to
1/52nd or I/26th share of the total holding of the family which cannot be
held to be either unreasonable or excessive under any circumstances.
Question as to whether a particular gift is within reasonable limits or not H
    618                 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A has.to be judged according to the status of the family at the time of making
    a gift, the extent of the immovable property owned by the family and the
    extent of property gifted. No hard and fast rule pre.scribing quantitative
    limits of such a gift can be laid down. The answer to such a question would
    vary from family to family.
B
            This apart, the question of reasonableness or otherwise of the gift
    made has to be assessed vis-a-vis the total yalue of the property held by
    the family. Simply because the gifted property is a house, it cannot be held
    that the gift made was not within the reasonable limits. As stated earlier,
C   it would depend upon a number of factors such as the status of the family,
    the total value of the property held by the family and the value of the gifted
    property and so on. It is basically a question of fact. However, on facts,
    if it is found that the gift was not within reasonable limits, such a gift would
    not be upheld. It was for the respondent to plead and prove that the gift
    made by the father was exeessive or unreasonable, keeping in view, the
D   total holding of the family. In the absence of any pleadings or proof on
    these points, it cannot be held that the gift made in this case was not within
    the reasonable limits of the property held by the family. The respondent
    has failed to plead and prove that the gift made was to unreasonable extent,
    keeping in view, the total holding of the family. The first appellate court
E   and the High Court, thus, erred in non-suiting the appellants on this
    account.

          For the reasons stated above we accept the appeal, set aside the
    judgments and the decrees passed by the courts below. It is held that the
F   respondent had the capacity to make a gift to a reasonable extent of
    ancestral immovable property in favour of his daughters. The gift was not
    vitiated by fraud or misrepresentation. The appellants are held to be the
    absolute owners of the suit property and the respondent is injuncted from
    interfering with the peaceful possession and enjoyment of the suit property
G   by the appellant perpetually. Parties shall bear their own costs.

    B.S.                                                          Appeal allowed ..