LCI Learning
Master the Art of Contract Drafting & Corporate Legal Work with Adv Navodit Mehra. Register Now!

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on LinkedIn

Share on Email

Share More

New Delhi: After rebuking the bureaucracy for being indifferent to the weak and the poor, the Supreme Court has chastised a trial court and a high court for passing orders which were “a towering fraud played upon an illiterate and helpless widow”.

The widow, Santosh, had inherited huge property after the death of her husband. Her brother-in-law, Jagat Ram, offered to ‘help her’ claim the property. He took her to the revenue office, got her thumb impressions on four or five documents and instead got the property registered in his name.

Once that was done, he tried to evict Santosh from her house and took possession of her farm land. The widow went to court in 1990.

After hearing the case for years, the trial court rejected her plea saying she had taken too long to approach the court, since the decree or entitlement in the brother-in-law’s name had been procured in 1985. The Punjab and Haryana high court upheld this order.

During the hearings in the lower court, Santosh had also objected to her lawyer filing documents on behalf of the opposite party.
When the apex court heard of this, it said, “We’re convinced this was nothing but a very poor attempt to get the fate of the appellant (Santosh) sealed.”

LCI Learning

“To say we are surprised would be an understatement,’’ observed a bench of justices VS Sirpurkar and Surinder Singh Nijjar.

“Unfortunately, all this has escaped the notice of the high court, who passed a very casual judgment without bothering to notice these glaring facts,’’ the bench added.

The decree procured by ‘fraud’ in 1985, that deprived Santosh of her property, can’t match any “better example of a fraudulent decree’’.

The apex court bench scrapped the orders passed by the high court and the trial court that denied Santosh the right to challenge deprivation of her property, saying “ fraud puts an end to everything’’.

Such fraudulent orders are null in law, the Supreme Court said. The judges restored the property to Santosh and fined her brother-in-law Rs25,000.

"Loved reading this piece by Suchitra. S?
Join LAWyersClubIndia's network for daily News Updates, Judgment Summaries, Articles, Forum Threads, Online Law Courses, and MUCH MORE!!"




Tags :

  Views  2490  Report



Comments
14 years ago G.L.N. Prasad

There were several thousand victims in the Country that finds no way to regain property through court in frauds and here the victim is fortunate.


14 years ago MRKGANDHI

Present justice dispensation is virtually heart burning. Judges are expected to be humane and realistic; but unfortunately they also help unfair practices. Thanks for apex court's intervention and I feel the should have directed criminal proceedings against the Brother-in-law of Santosh.


15 years ago Aarthi

it is really such a shame and the HC is only giving the brother inlaw a fine of rs25000 which is nothing as compared to this women suffering so many yrs.


15 years ago pavan

JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED. This phrase is very much in practice in current arena when the independance of the judiciary has become a question before the country. Citizens are loosing faith in the judicial system of the country owing to the delay in judgements and cost involved


15 years ago MRKGANDHI

It is a matter of regret that courts remain silent spectator when witnesses speak blatant lies and lawyers harass witnesses. Many judges are afraid to come to the rescue to witnesses. This is a sorry state of affairs. There is a saying " PEOPLE ARE CLOSER TO TRUTH AND COURTS CLOSER TO FACTS". The courts more anxious to protect the rights of accused; but not the victims.


Guest
15 years ago Anonymous

this could have been done by the high court also but now a days high court judges are behaving like district court judges. they fear to pass any order against the bureaucrats and for cause of justice . they have made article 226 of the costitution a dead letter of law. they have reduced the extraordinary jurisdiction to most ordinary jurisdiction. for them alternative remedy, delay have become divine words for denying relief to the poor illiterate citizen. nothing better can be expected from these high court judges who have been elevated after practising as govt advocates having no background of a single private brief. a person who has never seen the plight of a common man are delivering justice now a days. if lawyers do not awake very soon a system of judicial bureaucracy would emerge in our country.


15 years ago Anil Agrawal

The brother-in-law deserves jail. The less said about HC and trial courts the better. They take such chastising in their strides and life goes on.


15 years ago Bhartiya No. 1

Very humanistic observation/approach by Hon'ble SC. This will boost the morale of the weaker section. Can any one post the complete judgement please.




You are not logged in . Please login to post comments.

Click here to Login / Register