A Muslim executed a deed of gift of a house in favour of D. At the time of the gift, the house was in possession of A who claimed it adversely to C. D sues A to recover possession of the house as donee of the property and joins C also as defendant. C in his written statement admits the claim of D. A contends that the gift is void since C had no possession of the house at the date of gift and no possession was ever given to D.
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Question: A Muslim executed a deed of gift of a house in favour of D. At the time of the gift, the house was in possession of A who claimed it adversely to C. D sues A to recover possession of the house as donee of the property and joins C also as defendant. C in his written statement admits the claim of D. A contends that the gift is void since C had no possession of the house at the date of gift and no possession was ever given to D. [DJS 1990]Find the question and answer of Muslim Law...
Question: A Muslim executed a deed of gift of a house in favour of D. At the time of the gift, the house was in possession of A who claimed it adversely to C. D sues A to recover possession of the house as donee of the property and joins C also as defendant. C in his written statement admits the claim of D. A contends that the gift is void since C had no possession of the house at the date of gift and no possession was ever given to D. [DJS 1990]
Find the question and answer of Muslim Law only on Legal Bites. [A Muslim executed a deed of gift of a house in favour of D. At the time of the gift, the house was in possession of A who claimed it adversely to C. D sues A to recover possession of the house as donee of the property and joins C also as defendant. C in his written statement admits the claim of D. A contends that the gift is void since. C had no possession of the house at the date of gift and no possession was ever given to D.]
Answer
Under Muslim law, a gift, also known as "Hiba," is an immediate and unrequited transfer of property. A Mohammedan is permitted to give away all or a portion of his property during his lifetime. Hiba literally translates as the gift of something from which the donee may profit. Every Muslim who has acquired majority status and is of sound mind may donate. However, in order for a gift to be valid in Islamic law, the following conditions must be met:
(a) There must be a clear, unambiguous, and specific declaration of gift by the Donor to Donee.
(b) There must be acceptance of gift expressly or impliedly by or on behalf of the donee.
(c) That there must be a delivery of possession of the subject of the gift by the donor to the donee.
Section 149 of the Mulla's Principles of Mohammedan law also provides:
"It is essential to the validity of a gift that there should be (1) A declaration of gift by the donor (2) Acceptance of the gift express or implied by or on behalf of donee (3) Delivery of possession of the subject of the gift by donor to donee in accordance with the provisions of Section 150.
If these conditions are complied with the gift is complete and if any of three conditions mentioned above is not satisfied, there cannot be a valid gift."
In Abdul Manan v. Md. Murad Ali and others, 1999 (1) BLJR 23, Patna High Court also discussed the essentials of a valid gift and provided the following essentials for the validity of gift (a) Declaration of Gift by Donor (b) Acceptance of Gift by donee (c) Delivery of possession of property gifted by the donor to the donee.
Thus, it is evident that in order for a gift to be valid, the aforementioned requirements must be met. Delivery of the gift's possession from the donor to the recipient is required. If the intended recipient of the present is someone who holds the property adversely to the giver, the gift is invalid unless the donor regains possession or takes all necessary steps to give the intended recipient possession.
In Maqbool Alam v. Mst. Khodaija, AIR 1966 SC 1194, Supreme Court held that if the gifted property is in wrongful possession of a trespasser, a mere declaration and acceptance of the gift would not make it complete; there must be either delivery of possession or some overt act by the donor to put it in the power of the donee to obtain possession.
In the present case at hand, donor C has done all that he can do to complete the gift. He is a party to the suit filed by the donee (D) and admits the claim of donee and fact of gift. Therefore C by admitting the gift to D has made D obtain possession from A and thus C has given constructive possession of property gifted to D and therefore a gift of C to D is valid.
Mayank Shekhar
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