TMI Blog1981 (10) TMI 89X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g period even during her life time and the before she did not even enjoy any life interest. 3. According to the Asstt. CED. there was no documentary evidence to support the aforesaid contention as the deceased was dependent on her great grandchildren for services and protection. Hence the Asst. CED was of the opinion that the plea of adverse possession was also legal available to the Accountable person. According to him, the legal title of the deceased for life became extinguished only on her death and hence the property must be deemed to pass to the donees on the death of the donor. Therefore the Land of 7.86 acres was valued at Rs. 10,000 per acre giving an aggregate of Rs. 78,600 and included in the estate of the deceased. 4. On appeal before the Appellate, CED the appellant contended that the Assistant Controller is not justified in including the value of the property gifted to her great grandsons by invoking the provisions of s. 12 of the ED Act as the settler surrendered her right and interest in the settled property much before her death and that there was thereof no passing of property on her death. After going through the settlement deed dt. 26th March, 1962, the Appel ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... shmamma of Pyaparru who expired on 22nd May, 1977, is the great grandmother of the accountable person. Her husband Sri. T. Subbaiah passed away in 1912. On 26th March, 1962, Smt. T. Lakshmamma executed a settlement deed reserving life interest for herself and transferring the vested remainder in 7.86 acres of wet land at Pyaparru village to (1) Surendranath, (2) Ramachandra Prasad (3) Rajendraprased and (4) Satyanarayana minor sons of K. Sivaramakrishnaiah. According to the appellant even though Smt. Lakshmamma in terms of the deed reserved life interest. In reality and as an actual fact the income from the said lands was being enjoyed only by the grandchildren who were dealing with the property as full owners. The educational expenses of all the children was met from the income of the lands gifted on 26th March, 1962. The land revenue was being paid by them. Surendranath who was one the donees mentioned in the gift deed left for USA in the year 1967 and till such time he left India, he also enjoyed the income. K. Rajendera Prasad died in 1969. In 1971, the marriage of Swarna latha (Sister of the donees) was celebrated and 5.50 acres of wet land out of the 7.86 acres was given to h ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... their rights of ownership in making the gift to the sister etc.. The appellant also contended that their title was perfected by adverse possession. 7. We have perused the settlement deed dt. 26th March, 1962, certificate issued by the Village Munsif, the affidavit filed before the Asstt. CED. specimen of gift deed executed by the donees in favour of Smt. Swarnalatha and the order of the Land Reforms Tribunal order dt. 1st July, 1976 and other revenue records filed by the appellant. 8. The ld. counsel appearing for the appellant drew our attention to a passage in N.R. Raghavacharia s Hindu Law Vol. I at page 607, which runs as follows: "The essence of surrender being self-effactment, if, there is a bona fide and total renunciation of the widow s right to hold the property no particular form is necessary to have it affected. No written instrument is required under the law, though if one is executed it requires to be registered. The essence of surrender being that the widow should part with the whole of her interest, it does not matter if it is done by one single act or by a process consisting of several stages of successive acts." Biswas Encyclopaedia Law Dictionary at page ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ovable properties the documents has to be executed and registered under the Registration Act. His contention was that s. 9 of the Transfer of Property Act which provided that a transfer of property may be made without writing in every case in which writing is not expressly required by law would not apply to a case of surrender. In short according to the ld. Deptl. Rep. the estate passed on the death of the deceased since she had not divested herself of the life interest. 9. The ld. counsel of the accountable person sought to clarify with reference to certain definitions in judicial dictionaries like those of Biswas and K.J. Iyer that surrender implied giving of up a smaller estate by the owner thereof to the holder of the larger estate and the surrendered interest merged with the larger estate. He contended that the surrender was only acceleration of enjoyment by remainder men. He referred to the fact that a lessor who had full ownership rights to receive the lease and when the lessee surrendered such lease, he posed a query as to when it could be construed to a gift. 10. We have considered the rival submissions. In the main commentary u/s. 9 of the Transfer of Property Act by ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... latha testifying to the enjoyment of the properties by the donees, in actual practice and meeting the educational expenses of the children from the income of the lands etc. Contents of this affidavit which was filed before the Asstt. CED dt. 2nd November, 1978 do not stand controverted in any way. The certificate of the Village Munsiff dated 17th October, 1978 also corroborates the aforeasid facts. In view of what has been discussed above we hold that the donees had perfect and full title ownership in respect of the said property covered by the settlement deed of 26th March, 1962 in favour of themselves by adverse possession for a period of over 12 years prior to the date of the demise of the deceased. In view of this, the life interest which the deceased had got extinguished by the adverse possession of the donees and the deceased stood totally excluded from any benefits in the property for more than a period of two years prior to her death. Thus on the date of death of the deceased there was no passing of property so as to attract the provisions of the ED Act. 12. In the result, the orders passed by the authorities below in so far as it relates to the point in controversy are s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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