Bombay High Court’s landmark decision: Property inherited from the father is not ‘ancestral’ but ‘separate’ property, giving the son full rights to sell it

The Bombay High Court (Nagpur Bench) has delivered an important judgment regarding the Hindu Succession Act. The court clarified that if a father inherited property through partition and after his death, the property is considered to be the son’s ‘separate property’ under Section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, and not ‘ancestral property’.

A bench of Justice Rohit W. Joshi set aside the lower appellate court’s decision, which had prohibited the sale of the property, holding it “ancestral.” The High Court reinstated the trial court’s decree, holding that the seller (the father) had the absolute and unbiased right to sell the property.

Background of the case

The dispute involves agricultural land (Gat No. 138, Old Survey No. 81) located in Daryapur, Amravati district. The owner of this land, Kishore Maliye (Respondent No. 1/Seller), had entered into an agreement to sell the land to Appellant Arun Narayanrao Kale (Buyer) for ₹129,500.

According to the buyer, the sale deed was executed and possession handed over on July 11, 2007. However, the document could not be registered due to a commotion created by the seller’s wife (respondent No. 1) at the sub-registrar’s office.

The High Court concluded that since the property was Kishore Maliye’s separate property, he had every right to sell it. The wife and children (objectors) had no right to challenge the transaction.

The court allowed the appeals filed by the buyer (Second Appeal Nos. 455/2023 and 457/2023) and dismissed the appeals of the objectors. The High Court set aside the first appellate court’s decision and reinstated the trial court’s order directing the seller to register the sale deed and not interfere with the buyer’s possession.