A daughter’s right to family property remains intact even if she received dowry at the time of her marriage, ruled the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court on March 16.
Justice MS Sonak quashed a deed transferring the petitioner daughter’s property to her brothers without her consent. The court stated, “Even if some dowry was provided to the daughters, it doesn’t mean they lose their right to the family property.”
The case involved the eldest daughter in a family of ten, who filed a petition contesting a deed of succession executed by her late father, Antonio Martins, naming her as the property heir. She also sought to nullify a transfer deed from 1990, which transferred the family shop to her brothers without her consent, and requested an injunction to prevent further transfers.
Her brothers argued that sufficient dowry was given to all sisters, and that the family shop was an asset of a partnership they had formed. They claimed this meant the sisters had no right to the property.
However, the appellate court upheld the daughter’s succession deed. Dissatisfied, the daughter appealed to the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court, challenging the dismissal of her suit.
The court noted that the daughter filed her suit within six weeks of discovering the transfer deed, aligning with the three-year limitation period under Article 59 of the Limitation Act 1963. The court found no evidence from the brothers proving the daughter knew about the deed earlier, citing the Supreme Court’s 1961 ruling in “KS Nanji and Company vs Jatashankar Dossa and others.”
The court also highlighted that Article 1565 of the Code prevents parents from selling or mortgaging property to one child without the consent of other children. Furthermore, it emphasized that under Article 2184, partition of immovable assets must be documented in a public deed.
Rejecting the brothers’ claim of an oral partition, the court concluded that the partnership property argument was a weak attempt to bypass legal requirements, and ruled in favor of the eldest daughter.
Case Title: Terezinha Martins David vs. Miguel Guarda Rosario Martins & Others
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