In the Kakumanu Pedasubhayya v. Kakumanu Akkamma case, the lower courts misinterpreted the essential issue in reaching a factual conclusion that it did not bring the complaint about the benefit of the child. The High Court had the power to overturn the second appeal’s decision and had correctly determined that the complaint was brought for the benefit of the minor plaintiff.
- FACTS:
- The minor plaintiff died during the pendency of a suit for partition of joint family properties, and his mother, as the legal representative, was allowed to continue the suit as the second plaintiff, and the suit was decreed because the defendants had been acting against the minor’s interests, and the suit for partition was thus beneficial to him.
- The appellants argued that the suit had been abated because of the minor’s death before the matter could be heard and the Court could determine whether they instituted the claim for his benefit.
- Rangayya, his material grandpa, chose Kakumanu Ramanna, a minor at roughly 2 1/2 years, as his next companion. His father is the first defendant. The first defendant’s sons from his dead first wife are the second and third defendants.
- The fourth defendant is the first defendant’s second wife and the plaintiff’s mother. The fifth defendant is the fourth defendant’s daughter by the first defendant.
ISSUES:
Can the filing of a suit validly affect a partition of the Joint Family Property by the next friend?
CONTENTIONS:
This appeal stems from a claim for joint family property division filed on April 2, 1942, in the District Munsif Court of Ongole on behalf of one Kakumanu Ramanna, a minor of around 2 1/2 years, by his maternal grandpa, Rangayya, as his dearest friend. His father is the first defendant. They stated three reasons in the plaint why the minor plaintiff should be granted partition.
RATIO DECIDENDI:
Bench: Aiyyar, T.L. Venkatarama
- According to Mitakshara law, a coparcener’s right to share in joint family properties arises at birth, and that right includes the right to be maintained out of those properties under the family’s status as long as the family is joint, as well as the right to partition and separate possession of his share should he make a demand for it
- With the law determined as to sui juris (of its own kind) coparceners, the question now is whether the law applies differently when the coparcener who files the partition claim is a youngster acting via his next friend. In terms of their rights to joint possessions, Hindu law now draws no distinction between a major coparcener and a minor coparcener. A minor has the same right as a major to be properly maintained out of the family assets, and his rights upon partition are identical to those of a major.
- In such circumstances, it must satisfy the court that the partition is in the best interests of the child and that not doing so would be detrimental to his interests. The effective date for severance of status in the event of a minor coparcener would be the date of institution of the suit, assuming the court really performs a partition. If the minor dies while the claim is pending, the legal representative of the minor might continue the case.
DECISION:
- Courts must be convinced that the next friend of a minor acted in his best interests while filing a petition for partition in order to exercise this jurisdiction.
- When the Court determines that the suit was brought for the benefit of the minor and orders partition, it does so not under any specific or peculiar rule of Hindu law, but in the exercise of a jurisdiction that is inherent in it and extends to all minors.
CONCLUSION:
Thus, the conduct of the next friend in initiating the complaint causes the severance in status, with the Court’s judgment just making it effective by ruling that what the next friend has done is for the advantage of the minor.
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