Property bought by a husband in the name of a housewife with no independent source of income will be categorized as the family’s joint property, the Allahabad High Court (HC) has ruled. Such property, prima facie, becomes the property of the joint Hindu family, the HC said in an order dated February 15, 2024.
Giving its order in a case where one Saurabh Gupta had filed a civil suit, asking for declaration of co-ownership of his deceased father’s property, Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal said that it was common for husbands to buy property in the name of their wives.
In his appeal, Gupta contended that despite being officially registered in the name of his mother, the property was jointly shared because it was bought by his father using his own funds.
“This court under Section 114 of the Indian Evidence Act may presume the existence of fact that the property purchased by a Hindu husband in the name of his spouse, who is a homemaker and does not have an independent source of income, will be the property of family, because in common course of natural event Hindu husband purchases a property in the name of his wife, who is homemaker and does not have any source of income for the benefit of family,” the court observed.
Unless proved that the property was purchased with the income earned by the wife, the property will be deemed to have been purchased by the husband using his own income, the high court added.
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