TMI Blog1961 (1) TMI 77X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the death of the widow Manickammal reversion fell open and that has given a cause of action to the respondent for his present suit. Madhava Ramanuja Mudaliar died issueless and was survived by his widow, his widowed mother, his sister Andalammal and the respondent and his sister Apurupammal who are the children of Ammakannu Ammal the second sister of Madhava Ramanuja Mudaliar, and Ethirajammal the daughter of the third sister of Madhava Ramanuja Mudaliar. To his suit the respondent impleaded the appellant Andalammal, Krishnasami Mudaliar, son of the said Apurupammal (defendant 1) and Susila Bai Ammal daughter of Ethirajammal as defendants 2 to 4. The Udayavar Temple by the sole trustee Bysani Krishnaiah Chetty was joined as defendant 5. After her husband's death Manickammal obtained letters of administration to his estate from the High Court at Madras. It appears that the relations of the widow with her mother- in-law were embittered, and that led to disputes between them. These disputes were settled by the two widows in pursuance of the advice of certain arbitrators who mediated between them. The settlement thus reached was recorded in writing on May 27, 1893 (Ex. D-2). ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... enkata Raghava Subbu Chetty. The appellant is the successor in title of the said division in respect of the said item No. 1 in Schedule II. In the present appeal we are concerned only with this item. On May 27, 1895, a composite deed of partition and administration of property of the deceased was executed by and between the two widows (Ex. D-5). By this document the three blocks in the house shown as Serial No. 1 in Ex. D-2 were delivered into the possession of the respective donees. The maternal uncle of the deceased was given two cawnies of lands as therein stipulated and the debts of the deceased were discharged and expenses incurred in respect of the letters of administration were met. It is under these circumstances that the respondent filed his present Suit No. 56 of 1946 on the Original Side of the Madras High Court;. and he claimed that the alienations made by the two widows were not binding on him and he was entitled to the possession of the property left by the deceased Madhava Ramanuja. The schedule attached to the plaint referred to four items of property, and as we have already pointed out it is only with item No. 1 out of these four items with which we are concerne ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tion, has received benefit under it, and by his conduct has affirmed it, and so it is not open to him to challenge its validity and binding character. In support of this argument he has canvassed for our acceptance the proposition that if a person with full knowledge of his rights assents to a transaction which may otherwise be voidable at his instance and takes benefit under it, he is subsequently precluded from disputing its validity. In support of this argument he has relied on a decision of this Court in Sahu Madho Das v. Pandit Mukand Ram (1). In that case this Court has held that it is settled law that an alienation by a widow in exercise of her powers is not altogether void but only voidable by the reversioners who may either singly or as a body be precluded from exercising their right to avoid it either by express ratification or by acts which treat it as valid or binding. This Court also observed that it is a principle of general application underlying many branches of the law that a person who with full knowledge of his rights has once elected to assent to a transaction voidable at his instance and has thus elected not to exercise his right to avoid it, cannot go back on ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... transaction. The appellant has also relied on another decision of this Court in Dhiyan Singh v. Jugal Kishore (2). In that case it was held that even if the impugned award was invalid the plaintiff who disputed its validity was barred from making that claim by reason of estoppel. Brijlal against whom the plea of estoppel was effectively raised appeared to have made a claim to the estate in question in 1884 when the impugned (1) [1955] a S.C.R. 22. (2) [1952] S.C.R. 478. transaction took place,, and it was as a result of this claim that settlement was reached and the impugned transaction effected. This Court held that even if the award which was challenged was invalid Brijlal by his conduct had precluded himself from raising the contention against the validity of the award. In , coming to this conclusion this Court observed that, the case before it was very similar to the one which the Privy Council had decided in Kanhai Lal v. Brij Lal (1). When we turn to the Privy Council decision itself we find that Kanhai Lal, who was held by the Privy Council to be precluded from challenging the arrangement to which he was a party, had set up a title in himself on the strength of an a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ld give or propose to give. To hold that by doing so , observed the Privy Council, he barred himself from asserting his own title to a part of what was mortgaged seems to their Lordships a quite unwarrantable proposition. This decision shows that the principle of election or estoppel or ratification must be applied with due circumspection and the mere fact that the reversioner has received some benefit under the transaction or has not challenged the validity of the transaction when it took place cannot bar his rights as a reversioner when reversion in his favour falls open. The last case on which reliance has been placed by the appellant is the decision of the Privy Council in Ramgouda Annagouda v. Bhausaheb (1). In this case the widow of the last male holder had alienated nearly the whole of the property of her husband by three deeds executed and registered on the same day. One of the deeds was in favour of a presumptive reversioner. The Privy Council held that the three deeds had to be regarded as forming one transaction entered into by all the persons interested in the properties, and that after the reversion fell open, the reversioners who were parties to the said tr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... than an alienation no doubt executed for the purpose of carrying out the original arrangement between the two widows. Thus in dealing with the question as to whether the respondent is precluded from challenging the validity of the impugned transaction it is necessary to bear in mind that the original transaction is not a transaction in the nature of a family arrangement. Besides, he was then a minor and admittedly he was not a party to any of the said transactions. It is, however, urged that the respondent obtained a certificate or a patta from the Collector in regard to the property conveyed to him under Ex. D-5, and the argument is that he has deliberately withheld the said patta because he apprehended that if produced the patta would go against him. The explanation given by the respondent for not producing the patta is attacked as unsatisfactory, and it is urged that the said explanation cannot possibly conceal his intention to keep back the document from the Court. In his cross-examination the respondent stated that the Collector's certificate which had been given to him by his grandmother had been filed by him in Suit No. 495 of 1916 in the City Civil Court, and he add ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... this statement strengthens his case that he took the benefit with the knowledge and under the belief that the arrangement under which the said benefit flowed was intended to be operative during the ,Lifetime of the widow, and as such he had no occasion to challenge its, validity whilst the widow was alive. A somewhat similar argument is based on the conduct of the respondent in relation to Civil Suit No. 1117 of 1921 filed by Masilamani Mudaly, the sister's son, and the deceased Govinda Mudaliar in the Madras High Court (Ex. P.16). To this suit the respondent was impleaded as defendant 7. In this suit the said plaintiff had challenged the validity of the arrangement, and asked for appropriate injunctions against defendant 6 to the suit, Thuggi Kondiah Chetty, Trustee of Udayavar Koil, and other defendants from dealing with the property to the prejudice of the reversionary right of the plaintiff. It is unnecessary to refer to the pleadings in the said suit or to specify in detail the reliefs claimed. The only point which is relevant to consider is that the reversioner had challenged the arrangement in question. The respondent by his written statement had purported to support ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... In this connection it is relevant to remember that until Act II of 1929 was passed a sister's son, like the respondent, would have had very few chances of becoming an actual reversioner; he would have come in the list of bandhus; and so it would be difficult to assume that at the time when the respondent accepted the gift of the house he knew about his rights as a possible reversioner. Besides, the benefit which he obtained under the impugned transaction could also in substance have been claimed by him under an earlier arrangement entered into between Govinda Mudaliar and Madhava Ramanuja Mudaliar on February 7, 1887 (Ex. D-1). Having regard to the arrangement disclosed by the said document the benefit given to the respondent and the other children of the sisters of the deceased Mudaliar may as well have been based on the said arrangement, and all that the transactions of 1893 and 1895 did was to give effect to it (Exs. D-2 and D-5). Besides, as we have already pointed out, in 1893 the respondent was a minor, and when subsequent to 1895 he took possession of the property it does not appear on evidence that he knew that the intention of the widows was to treat the property as a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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