Mother can’t relinquish property rights of minor children: Telangana HC

A mother has no right to relinquish the rights of her minor children on their ancestral property without their knowledge and consent, the Telangana High Court has ruled.

While giving its verdict in the Smt T Vijaya versus Sri Turkapalli Mallaiah case, the high court said that this legal position has been pronounced by orders of the Supreme Court.

Co-owners of a joint Hindu property can give up their right in the property through a relinquishment deed. A relinquishment deed is created and registered to enable the co-owners to legally transfer their share in the property to another co-owner.

Section 17 (1)B of the Registration Act, 1908, provides that an instrument, using which a right is either created or transferred with respect to an immovable property, must be registered. So, a relinquishment deed must be registered to have legal validity. Section 49 of the Registration Act mandates that an unregistered document that must be registered should be inadmissible in a court of the law in case of a dispute.

In the Vineeta Sharma versus Rakesh Sharma and Others case, the Supreme Court has ruled that relinquishment or partition or alienation of a coparcener’s share in a Hindu Undivided Family property can only be done by way of a registered instrument. Any plea of oral partition/relinquishment is untenable and unacceptable, the top court had said.

“Unless a registered instrument has been executed and acted upon, and the same has been proven in a court of law through public documents, no plea of relinquishment or partition can be set up to deny the share of a coparcener,” it said.

In the Pasagadugula Narayana Rao versus Pasagadugula Rama Murthy case, the Andhra Pradesh High Court also held that any relinquishment or release of a coparcener share can only be by way of a written instrument. In the absence of such a document, a plea of release or relinquishment of share cannot be entertained, it added.