Study the following circumstances and determine the validity of the gift under the Mohammedan Law. Substantiate your answers with reasons:- 1. A Muslim male makes a gift of his house to his sons with a condition that one-third of the income derived from the house has to be given to one Mr. X during his lifetime. Is the condition and the gift valid. 2. A makes a gift to B and delivers its possession to B. He then changes his mind and decides to revoke the gift. Is the revocation valid? 3. Y makes a gift of his property to Z. After Y's death, his heirs revoke the gift and disentitle Z from the use of Y's Property. Is the revocation valid?

Question: Study the following circumstances and determine the validity of the gift under the Mohammedan Law. Substantiate your answers with reasons:- [Punj JS 2013]
1. A Muslim male makes a gift of his house to his sons with a condition that one-third of the income derived from the house has to be given to one Mr. X during his lifetime. Is the condition and the gift valid.
2. A makes a gift to B and delivers its possession to B. He then changes his mind and decides to revoke the gift. Is the revocation valid?
3. Y makes a gift of his property to Z. After Y's death, his heirs revoke the gift and disentitle Z from the use of Y's Property. Is the revocation valid?

Find the question and answer of Muslim Law only on Legal Bites. [Study the following circumstances and determine the validity of the gift under the Mohammedan Law. Substantiate your answers with reasons:-

1. A Muslim male makes a gift of his house to his sons with a condition that one-third of the income derived from the house has to be given to one Mr. X during his lifetime. Is the condition and the gift valid.

2. A makes a gift to B and delivers its possession to B. He then changes his mind and decides to revoke the gift. Is the revocation valid?

3. Y makes a gift of his property to Z. After Y's death, his heirs revoke the gift and disentitle Z from the use of Y's Property. Is the revocation valid?]

Answer

1. A Muslim male makes a gift of his house to his sons with a condition that one-third of the income derived from the house has to be given to one Mr X during his lifetime. Are the condition and the gift valid?

Life estates were considered to come under this principle with the result that the donee took an absolute interest. But in Amjad Khan's case, (1929) 56 IA. 213, the Judicial Committee did not regard the principle as applied to the facts.

"An amree (life grant) is nothing but a gift and a condition; and the condition is invalid; but the gift is not rendered null by involving an invalid condition.”

In a later case, the Privy Council observed that there was no such thing as a life estate or vested remainder in Mohammedan Law as understood in English Law, but a gift for life would be construed as an interest for life in the usufruct.

‘Life estate’ in the sense, that is, the transfer of the ownership of the property itself limited to the life of the donee, with a condition that the donee would have no right of alienation is not recognised by Mahomedan Law. But the view that once prevailed to the effect, that under the Mahomedan law, a life interest with such a condition is nothing but a gift with a repugnant condition, when the condition must fail and the gift must prevail as an absolute one, is no longer good law in view of later decisions of the Privy Council.

In Mrs Hazara Bai v. Mohamed Adam Sait, (1977) 1 M.L.J. 291, the donor intended to give only a life estate to the plaintiff. The preamble to the gift deed used the word ‘absolute’ but the deed was not in favour of the plaintiff only. It was in favour of her children also, on whom absolute rights were conferred. The fact that the preamble did not mention the children would not make any difference. The operative clause showed that only a life estate was given to the plaintiff, while the children were given an absolute right. The document cannot be construed as conferring an absolute interest on the plaintiff with a condition against alienation. If, under Mahomedan law, life estate cannot be created by gift, then in this case it must be held that the plaintiff got nothing under the document.

If the document in terms creates only a life estate, there is no warrant to construe the same as one creating an absolute estate with a condition against alienation, on the theory that life estates by way of gifts are unknown to Mohammedan law. If the such theory holds good, under a document creating a life estate the donee would get nothing and not an absolute estate at all. It should be taken to be settled law that if in a Mahomedan gift, a life-estate is created, it would take effect out of the usufruct.

Therefore, in the present case, Mr X having, been granted only a life estate it takes effect out of the usufructs of the property. Such a gift and the condition is valid.

2. A makes a gift to B and delivers its possession to B. He then changes his mind and decides to revoke the gift. Is the revocation valid?

A gift once made can, with a few exceptions, be subsequently revoked. According to Tyabji in Muslim Law, all voluntary transactions are revocable; since revocability is one of the characteristics of the law of the gift. Baillie, however, said that all gifts are not revocable. The text contains a long list of gifts which cannot be revoked once perfected by delivery. Ameer Ali and others were of the opinion that the gift once completed can be revoked only by the intervention of the court of law or by consent of the donee. A mere declaration on the part of the donor is not enough.

The revocation of a gift can be studied under the following headings:-

(a) Before delivery of possession.

(b) After delivery of possession.

Revocation of the gift before the delivery of possession - Every gift can be revoked under Muslim Law if the delivery of possession of the gift property has not been given to the donee. The reason is that under Muslim Law, a gift is not complete till delivery of possession is made. Therefore, the revocation of such a gift merely means that the donor has changed his mind and he does not want to complete it by the delivery of possession. The order of a court is not necessary for such revocation. Fyzee in this connection said that in such cases, a gift becomes an inchoate gift and it is not proper to apply the term revocation to such gifts.

Revocation of gift after the delivery of possession - A gift cannot easily be revoked after the delivery of possession to the donee. Once the possession of a gift property has been given to donee by a donor such gift cannot subsequently be revoked merely by (a) declaration of revocation or (b) instituting a suit or (c) by any other action. It is possible only when the decree of the court is passed.

Discussing the right of doing in such circumstances, it was said in the case of Mahboob v. Abdul, (1964, Raj. 250), that till a decree of the court is passed for revoking the gift, the donee is entitled to use the property in any manner. He can also alienate it. It seems that (a) A gift can be revoked after delivery of possession if donee gives consent for the same or (b) revocation can be done by decree of the court. Since the gift is given by the donor, the right of its revocation confines within him only being his personal right, heirs of a donor afterwards or at any time cannot revoke it.

In the present case at hand, A makes a gift to B and delivers its possession to B. He then changes his mind and decides to revoke the gift. Such revocation is not valid until done through a decree of a court.

3. Y makes a gift of his property to Z. After Y's death, his heirs revoke the gift and disentitle Z from the use of Y's Property. Is the revocation valid?

Under Muslim law, all gifts are revocable before the delivery of possession is given to the donee. The revocation of a gift is a personal right of the donor, and, therefore, a gift cannot be revoked by his heirs after his death. A gift can also not be revoked after the death of the donee.

For example, if P makes a gift of his motor car to Q by a gift deed. No delivery of possession has been made to Q. P revokes the gift. The revocation is valid. In this case, it will not make any difference that the gift is made to a spouse or a person related to the donor within the degrees of the prohibited relationship. The fact of the matter is that under Muslim law no gift is complete till the delivery of possession is made, and therefore, in all those cases where possession has not been transferred the gift is incomplete, and whether or not it is revoked, it will not be valid till the delivery of possession is made to the donee.

The revocation of such a gift, therefore, merely means that the donor has changed his mind and does not want to complete it by the delivery of possession. For the revocation of such gifts, no order of the court is necessary. Fyzee rightly says that this is a case of an inchoate gift and it is not proper to apply the term revocation to such a gift.

However, in case the possession is delivered to the done, then the revocation of such gift cannot be done easily. A mere declaration of revocation by the donor, institution of a suit, or any other action, is not sufficient to revoke a gift. Till a decree of the court is passed revoking the gift, the donee is entitled to use the property in any manner; he can also alienate it.

Therefore:

1. All gifts after the delivery of possession can be revoked with the consent of the donee,

2. Revocation can be made only by a decree of the court.

Thus, in the present case at hand where Y makes a gift of his property to Z. After Y's death, his heirs revoke the gift and disentitle Z from the use of Y's Property. Such revocation is not valid without the consent of the court or by the decree of the court.

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