{"id":183704,"date":"2011-03-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-03-03T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/sushma-tehlan-dalal-vs-shivraj-singh-tehlan-ors-on-4-march-2011"},"modified":"2017-09-24T02:05:03","modified_gmt":"2017-09-23T20:35:03","slug":"sushma-tehlan-dalal-vs-shivraj-singh-tehlan-ors-on-4-march-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/sushma-tehlan-dalal-vs-shivraj-singh-tehlan-ors-on-4-march-2011","title":{"rendered":"Sushma Tehlan Dalal vs Shivraj Singh Tehlan &amp; Ors on 4 March, 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"docsource_main\">Delhi High Court<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_title\">Sushma Tehlan Dalal vs Shivraj Singh Tehlan &amp; Ors on 4 March, 2011<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_author\">Author: V. K. Jain<\/div>\n<pre>         THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI\n\n%                     Judgment Reserved on:   25.02.2011\n                      Judgment Pronounced on: 04.03.2011\n\n+           CS(OS) No. 2642\/2008\n\n\nSUSHMA TEHLAN DALAL                             .....Plaintiff\n\n\n                            - versus -\n\n\nSHIVRAJ SINGH TEHLAN &amp; ORS                      ....Defendant\n\nAdvocates who appeared in this case:\nFor the Plaintiff:      Mr. Y.P. Narula, Sr. Adv. with\n                        Ms. Nandita Rao, Adv.\n\nFor the Defendant:            Mr. Mohinder Madan, Adv. for\n                              D-1. Mr Vivek Singh, Adv. for D-\n                              7.\n\nCORAM:-\nHON'BLE MR JUSTICE V.K. JAIN\n\n1.<\/pre>\n<p> Whether Reporters of local papers may                  Yes<br \/>\n   be allowed to see the judgment?\n<\/p>\n<p>2. To be referred to the Reporter or not?                  Yes<\/p>\n<p>3. Whether the judgment should be reported                 Yes<br \/>\n   in Digest?\n<\/p>\n<p>V.K. JAIN, J<\/p>\n<p>IA No. 10367\/2010 (O.7 R.11 CPC by D-1)<\/p>\n<p>1.          This is a suit for partition, cancellation of sale<\/p>\n<p>deeds, permanent injunction, rendition of accounts and<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">CS(OS)No. 2642\/2008                                  Page 1 of 16<\/span><br \/>\n mesne profits.           Late Chaudhary Hukum Singh was the<\/p>\n<p>owner of the following properties:\n<\/p>\n<p>   (a)         2\/28, Roop Nagar, Delhi of 246 square yards on<\/p>\n<p>                GT Road.\n<\/p>\n<p>   (b)          Lands in Village Nunglai Sakrawati, Najafgarh<\/p>\n<p>                Tehsil    Jila,   Delhi,      Delhi     in    Khasra         Nos.<\/p>\n<p>                32\/3,4,7\/1,12\/16,13\/20,19,25\/21\/1,27\/5\/1,1<\/p>\n<p>                3\/2,242,49,49\/1.\n<\/p>\n<p>   (c)          3 Farm Land Plots, Alipur Delhi, approximately<\/p>\n<p>                18 bighas.\n<\/p>\n<p>   (d)         Sansar Service Station, Najafgarh (Near Vikas<\/p>\n<p>                Puri), Delhi;\n<\/p>\n<p>   (e)         Anup Service Station, Alaknanda upon land on<\/p>\n<p>                99 year lessee from DDA;\n<\/p>\n<p>   (f)         Harjeet Filling Statin with adjoining plot Alipur<\/p>\n<p>                (on GT Karnal Road), Delhi;\n<\/p>\n<p>   (g)         189    Bighas      of   land    situated       in   Alwar         at<\/p>\n<p>                Khaderpur,        Tehsil,      Tejara        Distt.       Alwar,<\/p>\n<p>                Rajasthan in Khasra No.2 to 16, 23 to 26, 38,<\/p>\n<p>                140, 138, 142M, 34M, 1M, 46, 43, 44, 930, 939,<\/p>\n<p>                942\/1058, 918, 920, 940, 928, 870, 871, 911,<\/p>\n<p>                893, 908, 909, 1029, 905, 890, 891, 894, 892,<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">CS(OS)No. 2642\/2008                                                   Page 2 of 16<\/span><br \/>\n                 868, 869, 872 to 875, 878, 906, 907, 1026,<\/p>\n<p>                1027, 1028, 896, 897 and 1023 total area<\/p>\n<p>                around 189 bighas.\n<\/p>\n<p>            He died intestate on 15th August, 1969, leaving six<\/p>\n<p>legal heirs, including his widow Smt. Barfo Devi. Smt. Berfo<\/p>\n<p>Devi died on 26 th June, 1981, leaving five legal heirs,<\/p>\n<p>namely, her son, late Shri Anup Singh Tehlan, her other son<\/p>\n<p>Harjeet Singh Tehlan, defendant No.1 Shivraj Singh Tehlan,<\/p>\n<p>defendant No. 6 Kaushalya Chaudhary and the plaintiff<\/p>\n<p>Sushma Singh Tehlan.          Shri Harjeet Singh Tehlan died<\/p>\n<p>intestate in the year 2003, without any issues and his wife,<\/p>\n<p>who was estranged from him, is stated to have since re-<\/p>\n<p>married. It is alleged that his share in the above-referred<\/p>\n<p>properties devolved on the plaintiff and the defendants, they<\/p>\n<p>being his Class-II legal heirs. Defendants 2 to 5 are the legal<\/p>\n<p>heirs of late Shri Anup Singh Tehlan.\n<\/p>\n<p>2.          The plaintiff claims to be in possession of two<\/p>\n<p>rooms, two verandahs, two stores, two toilets and washroom<\/p>\n<p>in the western wing of the first floor of house No. 2\/28,<\/p>\n<p>Roop Nagar, Delhi and joint possession of the kitchen, open<\/p>\n<p>terrace of the second floor, the flat on second floor and<\/p>\n<p>shops and garage on the ground floor. It is further alleged<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">CS(OS)No. 2642\/2008                                  Page 3 of 16<\/span><br \/>\n that defendant No. 1 sold some portion of the parental<\/p>\n<p>property by executing a General Power of Attorney dated<\/p>\n<p>26th May, 1987. One sale deed in respect of land in village<\/p>\n<p>Nangli is alleged to have been executed by defendant No. 1<\/p>\n<p>on 02nd July, 2008 in favour of defendant No. 7, Bharat<\/p>\n<p>Singh and another sale deed of the same date is alleged to<\/p>\n<p>have been executed in favour of defendant No. 8 Vijay<\/p>\n<p>Sharma. The plaintiff has sought partition of the above-<\/p>\n<p>referred properties, besides seeking rendition of accounts<\/p>\n<p>and mesne profit with respect to the profits earned from the<\/p>\n<p>service stations. She has also sought cancellation of the sale<\/p>\n<p>deeds dated 02nd July, 2008, executed by defendant No. 1 in<\/p>\n<p>favour of defendant Nos. 7 and 8.\n<\/p>\n<p>3.          Para 2 of the plaint which deals with valuation<\/p>\n<p>reads as under:\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>              &#8220;The suit is valued over a crore for the<br \/>\n              purpose of jurisdiction. As regards the<br \/>\n              reliefs of permanent injunction, the suit<br \/>\n              is valued at Rs 20,01,000\/- and a court<br \/>\n              fee of Rs 22,000\/ has been paid. As<br \/>\n              regards the relief of partition and mesne<br \/>\n              profits, the suit is valued at Rs 200\/- and<br \/>\n              a court fee of Rs 20 has been paid. As<br \/>\n              regards the relief of cancellation for the<br \/>\n              documents being sale deeds dated<br \/>\n              02.07.2008 which are a fraud, nullity the<br \/>\n              suit is valued at Rs 200.       The plaintiff<br \/>\n              also undertakes to pay any further court<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">CS(OS)No. 2642\/2008                                      Page 4 of 16<\/span><br \/>\n               fee which may be required to be paid on<br \/>\n              actual partition of the property.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>4.          IA No. 10367\/2010 has been filed by defendant No.<\/p>\n<p>1, seeking rejection of the plaint on the ground that the<\/p>\n<p>plaintiff has not paid requisite Court fee.<\/p>\n<p>5.          Section 8 of the Suits Valuation Act, 1887 provides<\/p>\n<p>that where other than those referred to in the Court-fees<\/p>\n<p>Act, 1870 Section 7, paragraph v, vi and ix, and paragraph<\/p>\n<p>x, clause (d), Court-fees are payable ad valorem under the<\/p>\n<p>Court-fees Act, 1870, the value as determinable for the<\/p>\n<p>computation of court-fees and the value for purposes of<\/p>\n<p>jurisdiction shall be the same.      Section 9 of the above-<\/p>\n<p>referred Act provides that when the subject-matter of suits<\/p>\n<p>of any class, other than suits mentioned in the Court-fees<\/p>\n<p>Act, 1870, Section 7, paragraph v and vi, and paragraph x,<\/p>\n<p>clause (d) is such that in the opinion of the High Court it<\/p>\n<p>does not admit of being satisfactorily valued, the High Court<\/p>\n<p>may with the previous sanction of the State Government,<\/p>\n<p>direct that suits of that class shall, for the purposes of the<\/p>\n<p>Court-fees Act, 1870, and of this Act and any other<\/p>\n<p>enactment for the time being in force, be treated as if their<\/p>\n<p>subject-matter were of such value as the High Court thinks<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">CS(OS)No. 2642\/2008                                  Page 5 of 16<\/span><br \/>\n fit to specify in this behalf.\n<\/p>\n<p>            In exercise of powers conferred by Section 9 of<\/p>\n<p>Suits Valuation Act, Punjab High Court made rules which<\/p>\n<p>are applicable to Delhi.\n<\/p>\n<p>Suits for partition of property&#8211;\n<\/p>\n<p>Court-fee&#8211;(a) as determined by the Court-fees Act, 1870<\/p>\n<p>Value&#8211;(b) For the purpose of the Suit Valuation Act, 1887,<\/p>\n<p>and the Punjab Court Act, 1918 the value of the whole of<\/p>\n<p>the property as determined by Sections 3, 8 and 9 of the<\/p>\n<p>Suits Valuation Act, 1887.\n<\/p>\n<p>6.          It would thus be seen that in view of the rules<\/p>\n<p>framed by Punjab High Court under Section 9 of Suits<\/p>\n<p>Valuation Act, which admittedly are applicable to Delhi,<\/p>\n<p>there can be separate valuations for the purpose of Court<\/p>\n<p>fee and jurisdiction. The valuation for the purpose of<\/p>\n<p>jurisdiction has to be the value of the whole of the<\/p>\n<p>properties subject matter of partition, whereas valuation for<\/p>\n<p>the purpose of Court fee would be such as is provided by<\/p>\n<p>the Court-fees Act.\n<\/p>\n<p>7.          Section 7(iv)(b) of Court Fees Act, provides that in a<\/p>\n<p>suit to enforce the right to share in any property on the<\/p>\n<p>ground that it is a joint family property, the amount of fee<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">CS(OS)No. 2642\/2008                                     Page 6 of 16<\/span><br \/>\n payable under Court-fee Act, shall be computed according<\/p>\n<p>to the amount at which the relief sought is valued in the<\/p>\n<p>plaint or memorandum of appeal. It further provides that in<\/p>\n<p>all such suits the plaintiff shall state the amount at which<\/p>\n<p>he values the relief sought by him. Article 17(vi) of Schedule<\/p>\n<p>II of Court-fees Act provides for payment of a fixed Court fee<\/p>\n<p>in a suit where it is not possible to estimate at a money<\/p>\n<p>value the subject matter in dispute, and which is not<\/p>\n<p>otherwise provided for by this Act.\n<\/p>\n<p>8.          <a href=\"\/doc\/1242882\/\">In S. Rm. Ar. S. Sp. Sathappa Chettiar v. S. Rm.<\/p>\n<p>Ar. Rm. Ramanathan Chettiar AIR<\/a> 1958 SC 245, Supreme<\/p>\n<p>Court, inter alia, read as under:\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>              &#8220;If the scheme laid down for the<br \/>\n              computation of fees payable in suits<br \/>\n              covered by the several sub-sections of S.<br \/>\n              7 is considered it would be clear that in<br \/>\n              respect of suits falling under sub-section\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>              (iv), a departure has been made and<br \/>\n              liberty has been given to the plaintiff to<br \/>\n              value his claim for the purposes of court-<br \/>\n              fees. The theoretical basis of this<br \/>\n              provision appears to be that in cases in<br \/>\n              which the plaintiff is given the option to<br \/>\n              value his claim, it is really difficult to<br \/>\n              value the claim with any precision or<br \/>\n              definiteness. Take for instance the claim<br \/>\n              for partition where the plaintiff seeks to<br \/>\n              enforce his right to share in any property<br \/>\n              on the ground that it is joint family<br \/>\n              property. The basis of the claim is that<br \/>\n              the property in respect of which a share<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">CS(OS)No. 2642\/2008                                   Page 7 of 16<\/span><br \/>\n               is claimed is joint family property. In<br \/>\n              other words, it is property in which the<br \/>\n              plaintiff has an undivided share. What<br \/>\n              the plaintiff purports to do by making a<br \/>\n              claim for partition is to ask the court to<br \/>\n              give him certain specified properties<br \/>\n              separately and absolutely on his own<br \/>\n              account for his share in lieu of his<br \/>\n              undivided share in the whole property.<br \/>\n              Now it would be clear that the conversion<br \/>\n              of the plaintiff&#8217;s alleged undivided share<br \/>\n              in the joint family property into his<br \/>\n              separate share cannot be easily valued in<br \/>\n              terms of rupees with any precision or<br \/>\n              definiteness. That is why legislature has<br \/>\n              left it to the option of the plaintiff to value<br \/>\n              his claim for the payment of court-fees. It<br \/>\n              really means that in suits falling under S.<br \/>\n              7(iv)(b) the amount stated by the plaintiff<br \/>\n              as the value of his claim for partition has<br \/>\n              ordinarily to be accepted by the court in<br \/>\n              computing the court-fees payable in<br \/>\n              respect of the said relief. In the<br \/>\n              circumstances of this case it is<br \/>\n              unnecessary to consider whether, under<br \/>\n              the provisions of this section, the plaintiff<br \/>\n              has been given an absolute right or<br \/>\n              option to place any valuation whatever on<br \/>\n              his relief.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>9.          <a href=\"\/doc\/422413\/\">In Neelavathi and Ors. v. N. Natarajan and<\/p>\n<p>Others, AIR<\/a> 1980 SC 691, which arose out of a suit for<\/p>\n<p>partition, the plaintiff averred in the plaint that they were in<\/p>\n<p>joint possession of the property along with the defendants.<\/p>\n<p>The plaintiffs had valued their share of the property and<\/p>\n<p>paid fixed court fee of Rs 200\/- under Section 37(2) of Tamil<\/p>\n<p>Nadu Court-Fee and Suits Valuation Act. It was contended<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">CS(OS)No. 2642\/2008                                        Page 8 of 16<\/span><br \/>\n by the defendants in that suit that the plaintiff were not in<\/p>\n<p>joint possession and, therefore, were required to pay ad<\/p>\n<p>valorem Court fee at the market rate. The suit was<\/p>\n<p>dismissed on the ground that ad valorem Court fee had not<\/p>\n<p>been paid. Allowing the appeals, filed by the plaintiff,<\/p>\n<p>Supreme Court held that the question of Court fee was to be<\/p>\n<p>considered in the light of allegations made in the plaint and<\/p>\n<p>decision of this issue cannot be influenced either by the plea<\/p>\n<p>taken in the written statement or by final decision of the<\/p>\n<p>suit on merits. In that case, the plaintiff had stated in the<\/p>\n<p>plaint that the defendants had failed to give their share of<\/p>\n<p>income and they could not remain in joint possession. It<\/p>\n<p>was held that this averment would not mean that the<\/p>\n<p>plaintiffs had been excluded from possession of the suit<\/p>\n<p>property. During the Course of judgment, Supreme Court,<\/p>\n<p>inter alia, observed as under:\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>              &#8220;It will be seen that the Court-fee is<br \/>\n              payable under Section 37(1) if the<br \/>\n              plaintiff is &#8216;excluded&#8217; from possession of<br \/>\n              the property. The plaintiffs who are<br \/>\n              sisters of the defendants, claimed to be<br \/>\n              members of the joint family, and prayed<br \/>\n              for partition alleging that they are in joint<br \/>\n              possession. Under the proviso to Section<br \/>\n              6 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (Act<br \/>\n              30 of 1956) the plaintiffs being the<br \/>\n              daughters of the male Hindu who died<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">CS(OS)No. 2642\/2008                                      Page 9 of 16<\/span><br \/>\n               after the commencement of the Act<br \/>\n              having at the time of the death an<br \/>\n              interest in the mitakshara coparcenary<br \/>\n              property, acquired an interest by<br \/>\n              devolution under the Act. It is not in<br \/>\n              dispute that the plaintiffs are entitled to a<br \/>\n              share. The property to which the<br \/>\n              plaintiffs are entitled is undivided joint<br \/>\n              family property&#8217; though not in the strict<br \/>\n              sense of the term. The general principle of<br \/>\n              law is that in the case of co-owners, the<br \/>\n              possession of one is law possession of all<br \/>\n              unless ouster or exclusion is proved. To<br \/>\n              continue to be in joint possession in law,<br \/>\n              it is not necessary that the plaintiff<br \/>\n              should be in actual possession of the<br \/>\n              whole or part of the property. Equally it is<br \/>\n              not necessary that he should be getting a<br \/>\n              share or some income from the property.<br \/>\n              So long as his right to a share and the<br \/>\n              nature of the property as joint is not<br \/>\n              disputed the law presumes that he is in<br \/>\n              joint possession unless he is excluded<br \/>\n              from such possession. Before the<br \/>\n              plaintiffs could be called upon to pay<br \/>\n              Court-fee under Section 37(1) of the Act<br \/>\n              on the ground that they had been<br \/>\n              excluded from possession, it is necessary<br \/>\n              that on a reading of the plaint, there<br \/>\n              should be a clear and specific averment<br \/>\n              in the plaint that they had been<br \/>\n              &#8216;excluded&#8217; from joint possession to which<br \/>\n              they are entitled to in law.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                                   (emphasis supplied)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>10.         In Jagannath Amin vs. Seetharama (dead) by<\/p>\n<p>Lrs. and Ors. 2007 (1) SCC 674, a suit for partition of<\/p>\n<p>agricultural land was filed seeking its division into two equal<\/p>\n<p>shares. The plaintiff had paid Court fee of Rs 200 under<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">CS(OS)No. 2642\/2008                                      Page 10 of 16<\/span><br \/>\n Section 35(2) of Karnataka Court-fees and Suit Valuation<\/p>\n<p>Act, 1958. The plaintiffs had also alleged to be in joint<\/p>\n<p>possession of the suit property.       During the course of the<\/p>\n<p>judgment,        Supreme   Court,    referred   to   the   following<\/p>\n<p>observation made by it in Commercial Aviation and Travel<\/p>\n<p>Co. Vs. Vimla Panna Lal, AIR 1988 SC 1636:\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>              &#8220;It is true that the Court did not consider<br \/>\n              whether the plaintiff had been given an<br \/>\n              absolute right or option to place any<br \/>\n              valuation whatever on his relief under the<br \/>\n              provision of Section 7(iv) of the Court-fees<br \/>\n              Act, but the difficulty that would be felt<br \/>\n              by the Court in exercising its power<br \/>\n              under Order VII, Rule 11(b) of the Code of<br \/>\n              Civil Procedure is that if it is unable to<br \/>\n              determine the correct value of the relief, it<br \/>\n              cannot direct the plaintiff to correct the<br \/>\n              valuation.     Order   VII,    Rule    11(b)<br \/>\n              contemplates correct valuation and not<br \/>\n              approximate correct valuation and such<br \/>\n              correct valuation of the relief has to be<br \/>\n              determined by the Court. If the Court<br \/>\n              cannot determine the correct valuation of<br \/>\n              the relief claimed, it cannot require the<br \/>\n              plaintiff to correct the valuation and,<br \/>\n              consequently. Order VII, Rule 11(b) will<br \/>\n              not be applicable.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>11.         The following legal proposition of law emerges from<\/p>\n<p>the above-referred decisions:\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>(i)         In order to ascertain whether the suit has been<\/p>\n<p>property valued for the purpose of Court fee or not, only the<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">CS(OS)No. 2642\/2008                                        Page 11 of 16<\/span><br \/>\n averments made in the plaint have to be seen, without<\/p>\n<p>reference to the plea taken by the defendants;<\/p>\n<p>(ii)        If the plaintiff claims to be in joint possession of<\/p>\n<p>the suit property, he has to pay a fixed Court fee in terms of<\/p>\n<p>Article 17(vi) of Court-fees Act.\n<\/p>\n<p>(iii)       If the averments made in the plaint show that the<\/p>\n<p>plaintiff has been completely ousted from possession and is<\/p>\n<p>not in possession of any part of the suit property, he is<\/p>\n<p>required to claim possession and also pay ad valorem Court<\/p>\n<p>fee on the market value of his share in the suit property.<\/p>\n<p>12.         In the present case, the plaintiff has specifically<\/p>\n<p>alleged that she is in exclusive possession of house No.<\/p>\n<p>2\/28, Roop Nagar, Delhi and in joint possession of certain<\/p>\n<p>other parts of the aforesaid house. Thus, the plaintiff has<\/p>\n<p>undisputedly claimed joint possession with respect to one of<\/p>\n<p>the properties in respect of which partition has been sought<\/p>\n<p>by her. In my view, in order to constitute joint possession, it<\/p>\n<p>is not necessary that the plaintiff should claim to be in joint<\/p>\n<p>possession of each of the properties in respect of which<\/p>\n<p>partition is sought by him\/her. If she claims to be in joint<\/p>\n<p>possession of even one of the properties either wholly or<\/p>\n<p>partly, that would be sufficient to bring the case within the<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">CS(OS)No. 2642\/2008                                   Page 12 of 16<\/span><br \/>\n ambit of Article 7(iv) of Court-fees Act, because what is<\/p>\n<p>relevant is joint possession of the estate in respect of which<\/p>\n<p>partition is sought. The plaintiff is seeking partition not with<\/p>\n<p>respect to any one property, but with respect to all the<\/p>\n<p>properties which were owned by her late parents. If partition<\/p>\n<p>is sought in respect of more than one property and one of<\/p>\n<p>the co-owners possesses one property or a part of it and the<\/p>\n<p>other co-owners possess the remaining properties, all of<\/p>\n<p>them will be deemed to be in joint possession of the<\/p>\n<p>properties subject matter of partition.       In this regard, the<\/p>\n<p>following observations made by this Court in <a href=\"\/doc\/1684661\/\">Sudershan<\/p>\n<p>Kumar Seth vs. Pawan Kumar Seth &amp; Ors.<\/a> 124 (2005) DLT<\/p>\n<p>305:\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>             &#8220;It is settled that in order to decide as to<br \/>\n             what relief has been claimed by the<br \/>\n             plaintiff, the whole of the plaint has to be<br \/>\n             read. From the perusal of the plaint if it<br \/>\n             can be inferred that the plaintiff is in<br \/>\n             possession of the any of properties to be<br \/>\n             partitioned, then the court fees shall be<br \/>\n             payable under Article 17 (6) of Schedule II<br \/>\n             of the Court fees Act i.e. fixed court fees at<br \/>\n             the time of institution of the suit but if the<br \/>\n             conclusion is that the plaintiff is not in<br \/>\n             possession of any part of the properties<br \/>\n             then the plaintiff has to pay Court fees<br \/>\n             under section 7(iv)(b) of the Court fees Act<br \/>\n             i.e. on the value of plaintiff&#8217;s share.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>13.         Moreover, in the case before this Court, there is no<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">CS(OS)No. 2642\/2008                                      Page 13 of 16<\/span><br \/>\n averment in the plaint that the plaintiff has been ousted<\/p>\n<p>from the possession of the other properties which were<\/p>\n<p>owned by her parents. It is true that she has not specifically<\/p>\n<p>averred that she is in joint possession of the other<\/p>\n<p>properties, but, it is also equally true that she does not<\/p>\n<p>claim or admit ouster from those properties. She being one<\/p>\n<p>of the co-owners of the other properties is by fiction of law,<\/p>\n<p>deemed to be in joint possession of those properties along<\/p>\n<p>with other co-owners unless she pleads or admits complete<\/p>\n<p>ouster from those properties. This view also confirms to the<\/p>\n<p>observations made by Supreme Court in the case of<\/p>\n<p>Neelavathi (supra) that the general principle of law is that<\/p>\n<p>in case of co-owners, it is not necessary that the plaintiff<\/p>\n<p>should be in actual possession of the property, the<\/p>\n<p>possession of one co-owner is in law the possession of all<\/p>\n<p>unless ouster or exclusion is proved and so long as his right<\/p>\n<p>to share and the nature of the property as joint is not<\/p>\n<p>disputed, the law presumes that he is in joint possession,<\/p>\n<p>unless he is excluded from such possession.<\/p>\n<p>14.         The logic behind not insisting on payment of ad<\/p>\n<p>valorem Court fee in a case of joint possession was<\/p>\n<p>explained by Supreme Court in the case of Sathappa<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">CS(OS)No. 2642\/2008                                 Page 14 of 16<\/span><br \/>\n Chettiar (supra) when the Court said that in such cases<\/p>\n<p>what the plaintiff seeks by claiming partition is to ask the<\/p>\n<p>Court to give certain specific properties to him for his<\/p>\n<p>absolute and exclusive enjoyment, to the exclusion of other<\/p>\n<p>co-owners of that property and, thereby what he is seeking<\/p>\n<p>only a conversion of his undivided share into a separate<\/p>\n<p>share. Moreover, as observed by Supreme Court in the case<\/p>\n<p>of Jagannath Amin (supra), the Court needs to have exact<\/p>\n<p>valuation before it, before it can reject the plaint under<\/p>\n<p>Order VII Rule 11(d) of Code of Civil Procedure and that<\/p>\n<p>determination cannot be made in such a case.<\/p>\n<p>15.         Therefore, there is no ground to reject the plaint,<\/p>\n<p>as far as Court fee on the relief of partition is concerned.<\/p>\n<p>During the course of arguments, the learned counsel for the<\/p>\n<p>plaintiff fairly stated that as far as relief of cancellation of<\/p>\n<p>sale deeds are concerned, the plaintiff would pay ad valorem<\/p>\n<p>Court fee on the sale consideration, shown in the sale<\/p>\n<p>deeds, executed in favour of defendants 7 and 8. Therefore,<\/p>\n<p>the plea taken by the plaintiff with regard to inadequate<\/p>\n<p>Court fee on the relief of cancellation of sale deeds does not<\/p>\n<p>survive anymore.      The plaintiff is directed to pay deficient<\/p>\n<p>Court fee on the relief of cancellation of sale deeds within<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">CS(OS)No. 2642\/2008                                   Page 15 of 16<\/span><br \/>\n two weeks.\n<\/p>\n<p>            The application stands disposed of accordingly.<\/p>\n<p>                                            (V.K. JAIN)<br \/>\n                                              JUDGE<br \/>\nMARCH 04, 2011<br \/>\nbg<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">CS(OS)No. 2642\/2008                                   Page 16 of 16<\/span>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Delhi High Court Sushma Tehlan Dalal vs Shivraj Singh Tehlan &amp; Ors on 4 March, 2011 Author: V. K. Jain THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI % Judgment Reserved on: 25.02.2011 Judgment Pronounced on: 04.03.2011 + CS(OS) No. 2642\/2008 SUSHMA TEHLAN DALAL &#8230;..Plaintiff &#8211; versus &#8211; SHIVRAJ SINGH TEHLAN &amp; ORS &#8230;.Defendant Advocates [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-183704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-delhi-high-court","category-high-court"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sushma Tehlan Dalal vs Shivraj Singh Tehlan &amp; Ors on 4 March, 2011 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/sushma-tehlan-dalal-vs-shivraj-singh-tehlan-ors-on-4-march-2011\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sushma Tehlan Dalal vs Shivraj Singh Tehlan &amp; 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