Case Note & Summary
The dispute involved a partition suit filed by the plaintiff for dividing the property into five equal shares. The Trial Court decreed the suit in favor of the plaintiff on 21.10.1974. However, the defendants appealed, and the Appellate Court reversed the Trial Court's decision on 31.12.1986, dismissing the plaintiff's suit. The plaintiff then filed a second appeal under Section 100 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC). The High Court did not frame any substantial question of law but addressed the validity of a sale deed executed by the first defendant after the plaintiff's notice demanding partition. The High Court ruled that the sale deed was invalid, stating that the defendant had no power to alienate the joint family property after the disruption caused by the notice. The Supreme Court found that the validity of the sale deed was not raised as an issue in the Trial Court and was a mixed question of fact and law. The Court held that the High Court erred in considering this question for the first time in the second appeal, leading to the restoration of the Lower Appellate Court's decree and allowing the appeal. No costs were awarded.
Headnote
A) Civil Procedure - Second Appeal - Mixed Question of Fact and Law - The High Court erred in adjudicating a question not raised before the Trial Court - Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, Section 100 - The High Court considered the validity of a sale deed executed after a notice demanding partition, which was not a question framed in the Trial Court. The Supreme Court held that this was a mixed question of fact and law that should not have been raised for the first time in the second appeal, leading to the restoration of the Lower Appellate Court's decree (Paras 1-2).
Issue of Consideration
Whether the High Court erred in considering the validity of the sale deed executed after the notice demanding partition.
Final Decision
The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, set aside the High Court's judgment, and restored the decree passed by the Lower Appellate Court.
Law Points
- Partition
- Sale Deed
- Mixed Question of Fact and Law
- Second Appeal
- Section 100 CPC
