ILLOTH VALAPPIL AMBUNHI (D) BY LRS.versusKUNHAMBU KARANAVAN

670                       [2019]
               SUPREME COURT     13 S.C.R. 670
                              REPORTS                     [2019] 13 S.C.R.


A               ILLOTH VALAPPIL AMBUNHI (D) BY LRS.
                                       v.
                        KUNHAMBU KARANAVAN
                        (Civil Appeal No. 1429 of 2011)
B                           SEPTEMBER 19, 2019
           [INDIRA BANERJEE AND SANJIV KHANNA, JJ.]
             Suit – Cancellation of gift deed and deed of transfer –
      Declaration for – One ‘R’ executed a deed of gift in favour of the
C     respondents – The deed of gift stated that possession was delivered
      – ‘R’ later cancelled the gift by a deed of cancellation and sold
      the property to the original appellants – According to the
      appellants, the possession of the suit property was given to them
      and long after the original appellant had purchased the suit
      property, the respondents filed a suit for declaration that deed of
D     cancellation and the deed of transfer were invalid, null and void
      – Respondents claimed that they were the owners of the suit
      property by virtue of the deed of gift – Trial court held that gift
      deed executed had not taken effect, as it was not accepted and
      deed of cancellation as well as the sale to the appellant were held
E     to be valid and suit was dismissed – This was affirmed by the First
      Appellate Court as well – However, the High Court set aside the
      concurrent decisions of the Trial court and the First Appellate Court
      and allowed the respondents to recover possession of the suit
      property – On appeal, held: The proposition of law that when a
      document of transfer by gift records delivery of possession, a
F
      presumption of acceptance would arise, in the absence of overt
      repudiation of the gift, by and/or on behalf of the doneee, is
      unexceptionable – The High Court rightly held that when the deed
      itself said that the possession of the property was given to the
      donee, the burden of proving, that the said recital was not correct,
G     laid on the party who asserted so – The High Court also rightly
      declined to accept the findings of the courts below that the deed
      of gift was not accepted during the lifetime of the donor, in the
      absence of any evidence of non acceptance of the same – The deed
      of gift did not provide for reversion of the suit property to the
H     donor in case of failure to pay maintenance to the donor in terms
                                      670
         ILLOTH VALAPPIL AMBUNHI (D) BY LRS. v.                        671
                KUNHAMBU KARANAVAN

of the deed of gift – Further the donor had no authority to revoke     A
the deed of gift – Hence, the subsequent documents were in
themselves without authority and null and void – The second
appeal was rightly allowed by the High Court.
      Code of Civil Procedure 1908 – s.100 – Error in framing a
question of law – Held: A mere error in framing a question of law      B
would not render a judgment in second appeal liable to be set
aside, if it is found that a substantial question of law existed and
such substantial question of law has in fact been answered by the
High Court.
      Dismissing the appeal, the Court                                 C
      HELD: 1. The proposition of law that when the document
of transfer by gift records delivery of possession, a presumption
of acceptance would arise, in the absence of overt repudiation
of the gift, by and/or on behalf of the donee, is unexceptionable.
As held by the High Court, when the deed itself said that the          D
possession of the property was given to the donee, the burden
of proving, that the said recital was not correct, lay on the party
who asserted so. In view of this Court, the law has correctly
been appreciated and enunciated by the High Court. [Para 21]
[677-G]
                                                                       E
      2. The High Court took note of the recital of the gift deed
to the effect that respondent acting on behalf of the donee was
to enjoy the property from the date of the gift, which was strong
evidence of transfer of possession. As noted by the High Court,
there is no dispute that respondent and the donor ‘R’ were
trustees of the (donee) at the time of execution of deed of gift.      F
The fact that nothing was done by ‘R’ or any other trustee of
the donee to repudiate the gift in itself shows that the deed of
gift was duly accepted by the donee. [Paras 22 and 25] [677-H;
678-A-D-E]
      3. The High Court rightly held that the Courts below had         G
proceeded on the wrong assumption that even in spite of the
recitals in Exh. A1, being the deed of gift and the admitted facts
of the case, the burden of proof was on the respondents to show
that the gift had been accepted. The findings of the Trial Courts
and the First Appellate Court were based on a wrong assumption         H
672           SUPREME COURT REPORTS                    [2019] 13 S.C.R.


A     of law regarding the possession of an idol in the eye of law and
      the relevant recitals in Exh. A1 (deed of gift). [Para 26] [678-F]
            4. The High Court rightly declined to accept the findings
      of the Courts below that the deed of gift had not been accepted
      during the lifetime of the donor, in the absence of any evidence
B     of non-acceptance of the same. The deed of gift did not provide
      for reversion of the suit property to the donor in case of failure
      to pay maintenance to the donor in terms of the deed of gift.
      The High Court, therefore arrived at the conclusion that ‘R’ was
      not competent to execute the deed of cancellation or the deed
C     of transfer, as he had ceased to be the owner of the suit
      property. [Para 27] [678-G-H; 679-A]
            5. The High Court held, and rightly, that Article 59 of the
      Limitation Act deals with suits for cancellation for setting aside
      an instrument or decree or for rescission of a contract and
D     prescribes a period of three years commencing from the time
      when the fact entitling the plaintiff to have the instrument or
      decree cancelled or set aside or the contract rescinded is first
      known to him. So far as Exh. A1 being the deed of gift is
      concerned, the donor had no authority to revoke the same.
E     Hence, the subsequent documents were in themselves without
      authority and null and void. The declaration was only incidental
      to the title and possession of the donee and hence Article 59
      had no application. [Para 31] [679-F-G]
           Sir Chunilal V. Mehta and Sons v. The Century
F          Spinning and Manufacturing Co. Ltd. AIR 1962 SC
           1314 : [1962] Suppl. SCR 549 – followed.
           Gurnam Singh (D) by LRs. and Other v. Lehna Singh
           (D) by LRs. (2019) 7 SCC 641 – relied on.

G          S. Sarojini Amma v. Velayudhan Pillai Sreekumar
           (2018) SCC Online SC 2200 – distinguished.
           Md. Noorul Hoda v. Bibi Raifunnisa & Ors. (1996) 7
           SCC 767 : [1995] 6 Suppl. SCR 110 ; Prem Singh &
           Ors. v. Birbal & Ors. (2006) 5 SCC 353 : [2006] 1
H          Suppl. SCR 692 – referred to.
         ILLOTH VALAPPIL AMBUNHI (D) BY LRS. v.                            673
                KUNHAMBU KARANAVAN

                       Case Law Reference                                  A
[1962] Suppl. SCR 549               followed              Para 10
(2019) 7 SCC 641                    relied                Para 12
[1995] 6 Suppl. SCR 110            referred to            Para 28
[2006] 1 Suppl. SCR 692            referred to            Para 29          B

      CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 1429
of 2011.
      From the Judgment and Order dated 12.03.2009 of the High
Court of Kerala at Ernakulam in S. A. No. 229 of 1996 (B).                 C
      V. Giri, P. N. Ravindran, Sr. Adv., T. G. Narayanan Nair,
S. Sukumaran and Amit Sharma, Advs. for the Appellants.
     K. Rajeev, Shinoj K. Narayanan, A. Karthik, Badusha Sulaiman
and Ankit Jaglan, Advs. for the Respondent.
                                                                           D
      The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
      INDIRA BANERJEE J.
       1. This Appeal is against a Judgment dated 12th March, 2009 in
Second Appeal No. 229 of 1996 passed by a Single Bench of the Kerala
High Court, whereby the High Court has set aside the concurrent            E
decisions of the Trial Court and the First Appellate Court and declared
that the suit property belongs to the Chuzhali Bhagavathi Dharmadeva
Bhandaram (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Bhandaram’).
      2. The High Court further declared that the deed of assignment
dated 31st July, 1971 executed by Raman Aithan Ashari in favour of         F
the appellant in respect of the suit property was null and void and not
binding on the respondents and allowed the respondents to recover
possession of the suit property for and on behalf of the the Bhandaram.
     3. The facts giving rise to this Appeal are very briefly
enumerated hereinafter:                                                    G
       Raman Aithan Ashari, hereinafter referred to as Raman,
executed a deed of gift of the said property in favour of the Bhandaram.
According to the appellants, though the deed of gift stated that
possession had been delivered, there was no evidence of acceptance
of the gift or of the Bhandaram being in possession. No presumption        H
674            SUPREME COURT REPORTS                         [2019] 13 S.C.R.


A     of acceptance of the gift could arise on the basis of the recital of
      delivery of possession in the deed of gift as the donee was only an
      inanimate body and there was no evidence of any person accepting
      the gift or entering into possession on its behalf.
            4. The appellants contend that the gift did not take effect and
B     Raman continued in possession, paying rent and revenue for the
      property in his name. He later cancelled the gift by a deed of
      cancellation dated 15th July, 1971 and sold the property to the original
      appellant on 31st July, 1971. The original appellant was given possession
      thereafter and he made improvements to the suit property.
C           5. According to the appellants, on or about 7th December, 1981,
      long after the original appellant had purchased the suit property, the
      respondents being the family members of Raman, and members of
      Kizhakke Veethil Tarwad filed the instant suit for declaration that the
      Deed of Cancellation and the deed of transfer were invalid, null and
      void.
D
            6. It was the case of the respondents that they were owners of
      the Bhandaram which had come to own the suit property by virtue of
      the deed of gift. Upon execution of the deed of gift Raman had divested
      himself of title to the suit property and hence was incompetent to
      execute any further deed, transferring the suit property to the appellants
E     herein and/or their predecessor in interest being the original appellant.
            7. The appellants contend that the appellants are bonafide
      purchasers for value. They resisted the suit contending that the gift had
      not taken effect, as the same had not been accepted, and therefore
      Raman was perfectly justified in cancelling the gift and selling the
F     property to the appellant.
             8. On behalf of the appellants, it is argued that the Trial Court
      went into detailed analysis of the evidence, and came to the conclusion
      that the gift executed by Raman had not taken effect, as it had not
      been accepted. Accordingly the deed of cancellation as well as the sale
G     to the appellant were held to be valid and the suit was dismissed. The
      findings of the Trial Court were affirmed by the First Appellate Court.
           9. It is true, as rightly argued by learned senior counsel appearing
      on behalf of the appellant, that the High Court does not, in Second
      Appeal, embark upon re-analysis of evidence and interfere with the
H     concurrent findings of facts. It is well settled that the condition
        ILLOTH VALAPPIL AMBUNHI (D) BY LRS. v.                                675
      KUNHAMBU KARANAVAN [INDIRA BANERJEE J.]

precedent for interference under Section 100 of the CPC is the                A
existence of a substantial question of law.
      10. What constitutes substantial question of law has been settled
by innumerable decisions of this Court. Reference may be made to
the Constitution Bench decision in Sir Chunilal V. Mehta and Sons
VS. The Century Spinning and Manufacturing Co. Ltd. Reported                  B
in AIR 1962 SC 1314.
       11. In Chunilal (Supra), a Constitution Bench of this Court held
that the proper test for determining whether a question of law raised
in the case is substantial would be, whether it is of general public
importance or whether it directly and substantially affects the rights of     C
the parties, and if so, whether it is an open question in the sense that it
has not finally been settled by this Court or the Privy Council or the
Federal Court, or is not free from difficulty, or calls for discussion of
alternative views. If the question is settled by the highest Court, or
the general principle to be applied in determining the question are well
                                                                              D
settled and there is mere question of applying those principles, or that
the plea raised is palpably absurd, the question would not be a substantial
question of law. In the aforesaid case, the construction of the Managing
agency agreement was not only found to be a question of law, but also
neither simple, nor free from doubt and accordingly the High Court was
held to be in error in refusing to grant the appellant a certificate that     E
the appeal involved a substantial question of law.
       12. Learned senior counsel appearing for the Respondent has
cited a very recent judgment of this Court in Gurnam Singh (D) by
LRs. and Other vs. Lehna Singh (D) by LRs. reported in 2019(7)
SCC 641, where this Court re-affirmed that the jurisdiction of the High       F
Court to entertain a Second Appeal under Section 100 of the CPC after
the 1976 amendment is confined to a substantial question of law. Thus
existence of a “substantial question of law” is a sine qua non for the
exercise of jurisdiction under Section 100 of the CPC.
       13. In Gurnam Singh’s case (supra) this Court held that in a           G
Second Appeal under Section 100 of the CPC, the High Court cannot
substitute its own opinion for that of the First Appellate Court, unless it
finds that the conclusions drawn by the Court were erroneous being :
       (1.) contrary to the mandatory provisions of the applicable law;
            or                                                                H
676             SUPREME COURT REPORTS                          [2019] 13 S.C.R.


A            (2) contrary to the law as pronounced by this Court; or
             (3) based on inadmissible evidence or no evidence.
             14. It is now well settled that perversity in arriving at a factual
      finding gives rise to a substantial question of law, attracting intervention
B     of the High Court under Section 100 of the CPC.
             15. Learned senior counsel appearing for the appellants referred
      to the substantial questions of law framed by the High Court, and in
      particular, the first question which reads as under:
            Whether Exh. A1 -gift deed having been accepted on behalf of
C     the donee could be revoked by the donor unilaterally?
            16. Counsel submitted that the questions have been framed on
      the patently erroneous premises that the gift had been accepted, on
      behalf of the donee when, in fact, both the Trial Court and the Appellate
      Court had concurred in their finding that the gift had never been
D
      accepted.
             17. The other questions, i.e. whether the cancellation deed being
      Ex.P11 was contrary to the provisions of Section 126 of the Transfer
      of Property Act, 1882, or whether the relief of declaration in respect
E     of the documents being Exh. P11 was barred by limitation, or whether
      the appellant had perfected title under Section 27 of the Limitation Act,
      cannot be said to be substantial questions of law, but are questions of
      fact, as argued by Counsel.
             18. The first question may not have properly been framed.
F     Perhaps the question should have read- whether the finding of the Trial
      Court with regard to non acceptance of the deed of gift, confirmed in
      appeal, was vitiated by perversity and if it was so vitiated, whether the
      unilateral revocation of the deed, by the donor, can be sustained in law.
             19. A careful reading of the judgment of the High Court under
G     Appeal makes it absolutely clear that those are the questions which
      have, in effect and substance, been addressed. In our view, a mere
      error in framing a question of law would not render a judgment in
      Second Appeal liable to be set aside, if it is found that a substantial
      question of law existed and such substantial question of law has in fact
H     been answered by the High Court as in this case.
        ILLOTH VALAPPIL AMBUNHI (D) BY LRS. v.                                677
      KUNHAMBU KARANAVAN [INDIRA BANERJEE J.]

       20. The High Court rightly took note of the recital of the deed        A
of gift which showed delivery of possession to the donee. The recital
of the deed gift is as under:
      “As described above, I hereby give possession of the under
      mentioned properties as gift for the expenses of the aforesaid
      Daiva Bhandram which belongs to over Tarward and in which I             B
      also have ownership rights.
      Therefore from today onwards yourself and in our absence those
      in our Tarwad who follow the rites of Chuzhali Ayathan etc. shall
      have possession of the properties given in the schedule below
      and shall meet the expenses of the Dharmadaivam from the                C
      income from time to time pay taxes and give me Rs.24/-towards
      my life interest before 30th of Kumbham every year from 1131
      (M.E.). The said amount shall be given to me till my death and
      obtain receipt for the same. I will have no other rights on the
      property mentioned in the schedule except the aforesaid life
      interest.”                                                              D

      The High Court further held :-:
      “8. In the decisions relied on by the learned counsel for the
      respondent it has been held that there cannot be a presumption
      regarding acceptance of the gift, be it not onerous and that there      E
      must be some evidence to show that the gift was accepted during
      the life time of the donor but, what is stated in those decision is
      concerning the presumption as to the acceptance of the gift. But
      when the document itself recited that the possession of the
      property was given to the donee, then, a presumption of
      acceptance of gift would arise in favour of the donee.”                 F
       21. The proposition of law that when the document of transfer
by gift records delivery of possession, a presumption of acceptance
would arise, in the absence of overt repudiation of the gift, by and/or
on behalf of the donee, is unexceptionable. As held by the High Court,
when the deed itself said that the possession of the property was given       G
to the donee, the burden of proving, that the said recital was not correct,
lay on the party who asserted so. In our view, the law has correctly
been appreciated and enunciated by the High Court.
     22. The High Court took note of the recital to the effect that
Karnavan (Malingan Chuzhali Ashari) acting on behalf of the                   H
678            SUPREME COURT REPORTS                         [2019] 13 S.C.R.


A     Bhandaram was to enjoy the property from the date of the gift, which
      was strong evidence of transfer of possession.
             23. The High Court rightly found that there was no direction in
      the gift deed which made the gift onerous as understood in Section 127
      of the Transfer of Property Act. In all fairness to the appellants, this
B     has not even been argued before the High court. The gift not being
      onerous, there was no reason why Malingan Chuzhali Ashari should
      not have accepted the gift on behalf of the Bhandaram.
            24. The High Court held:
            “It is indisputable that an idol is to be treated as a minor for all
C           legal purposes. Hence, the acceptance of the gift as per Ext.
            A1 could be by any person on behalf of the donee. It is not
            disputed that Malingan Chuzhali Ashari was the Karnavan of the
            Tharawad during the time of Ext.A1 and that along with Malingan
            Chuzhali Ashari, the donor (Raman Aithan Ashari) was also a
D           trustee of the Bhandaram.”
             25. As noted by the High Court, there is no dispute that Malingan
      Chuzhali Ashari and the donor Raman were trustees of the Bhandaram
      (donee) at the time of execution of deed of gift. The fact that nothing
      was done by Raman or any other trustee of the Bhandaram to repudiate
E     the gift in itself shows that the deed of gift was duly accepted by the
      Bhandaran.
             26. The High Court rightly held that the Courts below had
      proceeded on the wrong assumption that even in spite of the recitals in
      Exh. A1, being the deed of gift and the admitted facts of the case, the
F     burden of proof was on the respondents to show that the gift had been
      accepted. The findings of the Trial Courts and the First Appellate Court
      were based on a wrong assumption of law regarding the possession of
      an idol in the eye of law and the relevant recitals in Exh. A1 (deed of
      gift).
             27. The High Court rightly declined to accept the findings of the
G
      Courts below that the deed of gift had not been accepted during the
      lifetime of the donor, in the absence of any evidence of non acceptance
      of the same. The deed of gift did not provide for reversion of the suit
      property to the donor in case of failure to pay maintenance to the donor
      in terms of the deed of gift. The High Court, therefore arrived at the
H     conclusion that Raman was not competent to execute the deed of
        ILLOTH VALAPPIL AMBUNHI (D) BY LRS. v.                               679
      KUNHAMBU KARANAVAN [INDIRA BANERJEE J.]

cancellation or the deed of transfer, as he had ceased to be the owner       A
of the suit property.
        28. In Md. Noorul Hoda vs. Bibi Raifunnisa & Ors. reported
in (1996 (7) SCC 767), this Court held that Article 59 of the Limitation
Act would be applicable if a person affected is a party to a decree or
an instrument or a contract which was questioned by initiation of a suit.    B
Article 59 would apply to set aside the decrees, instruments or contracts
between the parties inter se. However, in the case of a person claiming
title through a party to the decree or instrument or contract who seeks
to avoid the instrument, contract or decree by a specific declaration,
the starting point of limitation under Article 59 would be the date of
                                                                             C
knowledge of the fraud and/or illegality which renders the decree and/
or instrument and/or other document void.
      29. In Prem Singh & Ors. vs. Birbal & Ors. Reported in 2006
(5) SCC 353, cited on behalf of the appellant, this Court held that when
a document is valid, no question arises of its cancellation; when a
                                                                             D
document is void, initiating a decree for setting aside, the same would
not be necessary as the same is nonest in the eye of law as it would
be a nullity.
       30. In Prem Singh & Ors. (supra) this Court further held that
Article 59 of the Limitation Act deals only when relief is claimed on
                                                                             E
the ground of fraud, coercion, undue influence, mistake, etc. to avoid a
voidable transaction. Article 59 is attracted where fraud, coercion, undue
influence, mistake etc. have to be proved. It would not apply to
instruments which are presumptively invalid.
        31. The High Court held, and rightly, that Article 59 of the
                                                                             F
Limitation Act deals with suits for cancellation for setting aside an
instrument or decree or for rescission of a contract and prescribes a
period of three years commencing from the time when the fact entitling
the plaintiff to have the instrument or decree cancelled or set aside or
the contract rescinded is first known to him. So far as Exh. A1 being
the deed of gift is concerned, the donor had no authority to revoke the      G
same. Hence, the subsequent documents were in themselves without
authority and null and void. The declaration was only incidental to the
title and possession of the donee and hence Article 59 had no application.
      32. In S. Sarojini Amma vs. Velayudhan Pillai Sreekumar
(2018 SCC Online SC 2200)this Court found on facts that the gift was         H
680                SUPREME COURT REPORTS                  [2019] 13 S.C.R.


A     conditional and the conditions had not been complied with. Furthermore
      on facts it was found that the gift in the aforesaid case was to take
      effect at a subsequent date. The Judgment is distinguishable on facts.
            33. In our view, the Second Appeal has rightly been allowed by
      the High Court. The Appeal is therefore dismissed.
B            34. Needless to mention that the Appellant will be entitled to
      initiate such proceedings as the Appellant may be advised, against the
      vendor for damage and recovery of the consideration paid to him.


      Ankit Gyan                                              Appeal dismissed.
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