My father has gifted entire ancestral property to his daughter-in-law. He made the gift with an ulterior motive, which I don’t want to discuss here. I want to file suit for cancellation of that gift deed. Is it possible?
It is not within your father’s rights to gift the entire ancestral property to his daughter-in-law. Ancestral property has a unique nature, and children (coparceners) are co-owners of the property along with their father, possessing the right to the property by birth. As a result, the father cannot transfer the entire property without the consent and agreement of his children.
If your father wishes to gift the property, he can only gift his own portion of it. Before making the gift, he must partition the property and divide the share of each coparcener. If the property has not been partitioned, your father cannot demonstrate that he has the exclusive right to gift the entire property. Additionally, your father cannot gift the shares of other coparceners without their consent, and the Hindu personal law does not provide the “Karta” the right to transfer whole ancestral property to any individual at his discretion.
Transfers made for pious, religious obligations or for the benefit of coparceners do not require the consent of coparceners. However, in your situation, giving the property to your daughter-in-law does not serve any pious purpose or benefit the coparceners. As a result, this transaction is invalid.
To cancel the gift deed, you must file a civil suit. For a gift to be valid, the donor must have exclusive rights to the property. Since your father has no exclusive rights to the entire gifted property, the gift is not valid. If your father wanted to gift the entire ancestral property to his daughter-in-law, he could have done so with your consent. However, since you object to the transfer, you may bring a suit for the cancellation of the gift deed.
