Case Title: S. Manjula v. G. Shoba and others
The Madras High Court held that a gift deed can be cancelled if it has not been acted upon by the parties.
It took into consideration the principle laid down in Kali Naicker and others v. V. Jaganathan and ors that says,
"14. The above said ratios laid down by the various judgements referred to supra would leave no doubt that to establish a valid gift, there has to be acceptance supported by relevant materials. As discussed above, admittedly there is no material to support the contentions of the Plaintiffs that the gift deed executed in their favour by their grandfather has been acted upon."
The case, in brief, is that the Appellant is the plaintiff in the original suit. The 4th defendant is her mother and defendants 1-3 are her sisters. The suit property and other properties belonged to the Defendant mother. She had gifted the suit property, by a Registered Gift Deed dated, 13.06.2012, in favour of the Plaintiff and the Defendants 1 to 3 and since then, they have been in possession of the same and they became the absolute owners of the same.
Thereafter, the appellant contended that she and the Defendants 1 to 3 had sold 0.37 cents of land out of the total 2.37, by a sale deed, and paid the amount to the 4th Defendant for her needs. The 4th Defendant was also an attestor in the Sale Deed.
Subsequently, the plaintiff came to know that the 4th Defendant had executed a deed for cancellation of the Gift Deed, and the same is not sustained in law. However, the 4th defendant in her defence stated that the revenue records and the assessment were still in her name and that the Settlement Deed was a sham and merely a nominal document. It was also submitted that the Cancellation Deed was executed with the consent and concurrence of Plaintiff and Defendants 1-3. She further submitted that she was still in the possession and enjoyment of the suit property.
Agreeing to the submissions made by the Defendant, the High Court agreed with the trial court's decree dismissing a suit seeking cancellation of the gift deed.