# NA VNEET LAL ALIAS RAN GI v. GOKUL AND OTHERS

- **Citation:** [1976] 2 S.C.R. 924
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1975-12-09
- **Case number:** Civil Appeal No. 914 of 1968
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/na-vneet-lal-alias-ran-gi-v-gokul-and-others-6583
- **Pages:** 9

## Headnote

A
B
c
D
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NA VNEET LAL ALIAS RAN GI
v.
GOKUL AND OTHERS
December 9, 1975
LK. K. MATHEW, P. K. GOSWAMI AND N. L. UNTWALIA, JJ.]
Testamentary Wi/l-Co11structio11-Pri11ciples of-Term "Malik" used in a
Wi/1---Meiming of for the purposes of construction of the Will, wlze1her it denotes vesting a "life interes1" or an "absolute interest".
One 'BC', governed by the Mitakshra School of Hindu Law, being issueless
and apprehending the claim to his property after his death as reversioners by
his only brother 'RR' and his nephew 'K' who were inimical to him_ since the
partition of their ancestral property in 1899, and possible harassment of his
wife and 'G', the respondent, executed a Will on September 21, 1916, in the
Urdu script. The respondent 'G• being the son of the testator's sister married
to testator's wife's brother was doubly related. As per the Will, 'G' was to
perform the obsequies and other annual death ceremonies etc., being his 'waris'
and, the ''Malik Kami!'-absolute owner" having all the proprietary powers and
the power of making transfers of all sorts", while his wife was to be in possession and enjoyment of the property during her life time. From the date of
death of the testator in 1918 for about 18 years. the widow and 'G' lived in
cordiality but got estranged later due to estrangement of feelings resulting in
several civil and criminal litigation between them. The widow died in 1948
executing a gift deed and a Will in respect of certain properties in favour of
the appellant 'NL'.
'G' filed a civil suit claiming his rights under the Will dated 21 September,
1916, and the appellant defendant contested it on pleas that the widow of
'BC' having an absolute right over the property under the said Will validly made
the gift deed and the' Will of 1948 in his favour and that the respondent-plaintiff
had no locus standi to file the suit. The suit was decreed.
On appeal to the
Allahabad High Court, as there was a difference of opinion between the Judges
of the Division Bench on the nature of the widow's estate,-one opining :as the
Will conferring a "limited estate" and the other opining as conferring an "absolute estate" the; appeal was set down to a third Judge who agreed with the view
that the WiJJ conferred only a "limited estate" upon the widow and dismissed
the appeal.
Confirming the, decree of the courts below and dismissing the appeal by certiF
ficate, the Court,
G
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HELD : ( 1) The following are the established principles for construing the
I anguage of the WiJJ.
(a) In construing a document whether in English or in vernacular the fundamental rule is to ascertain the intention from the words used; the surrounding
circumstances being considered to find out the intended meaning of such words
employed therein. [927F-G]
(b) In construing the language, of the Wi!J the court is entitled to put itself
into the testator's armchair and is bound to bear in mind also other matters
than merely the words used like the surrounding circumstances, the position
of the testator, his family relationship, the probability that he would use words
in a particular sense-all as an aid to arriving at a right construction of the
Will, and to ascertain the meaning of its language when used by that particular
testator in that document.
[927G-H, 928A]
( c) The true intention of the testator has to be gathered not by attaching
importance to isolated expressions but by reading the WiJI as a whole with all
its provisions and ignoring none of them as redundant or contradictory. [928B]
( d) The court must accept, if possible, such construction as would give
to every expression some effect rather than that which would render any of
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NAVNEET LAL V. GOKUL
925
the expresssion inoperative.
The court will look at the circumstanc:s un~er
A
which the testator makes his Will, such as the state of his property, of his. family
ahd the like. Where apparently conflicting dispositions can be rec~nciled by
giving full effect to every word u>ed in a document, s

## Text

A
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NA VNEET LAL ALIAS RAN GI
v.
GOKUL AND OTHERS
December 9, 1975
LK. K. MATHEW, P. K. GOSWAMI AND N. L. UNTWALIA, JJ.]
Testamentary Wi/l-Co11structio11-Pri11ciples of-Term "Malik" used in a
Wi/1---Meiming of for the purposes of construction of the Will, wlze1her it denotes vesting a "life interes1" or an "absolute interest".
One 'BC', governed by the Mitakshra School of Hindu Law, being issueless
and apprehending the claim to his property after his death as reversioners by
his only brother 'RR' and his nephew 'K' who were inimical to him_ since the
partition of their ancestral property in 1899, and possible harassment of his
wife and 'G', the respondent, executed a Will on September 21, 1916, in the
Urdu script. The respondent 'G• being the son of the testator's sister married
to testator's wife's brother was doubly related. As per the Will, 'G' was to
perform the obsequies and other annual death ceremonies etc., being his 'waris'
and, the ''Malik Kami!'-absolute owner" having all the proprietary powers and
the power of making transfers of all sorts", while his wife was to be in possession and enjoyment of the property during her life time. From the date of
death of the testator in 1918 for about 18 years. the widow and 'G' lived in
cordiality but got estranged later due to estrangement of feelings resulting in
several civil and criminal litigation between them. The widow died in 1948
executing a gift deed and a Will in respect of certain properties in favour of
the appellant 'NL'.
'G' filed a civil suit claiming his rights under the Will dated 21 September,
1916, and the appellant defendant contested it on pleas that the widow of
'BC' having an absolute right over the property under the said Will validly made
the gift deed and the' Will of 1948 in his favour and that the respondent-plaintiff
had no locus standi to file the suit. The suit was decreed.
On appeal to the
Allahabad High Court, as there was a difference of opinion between the Judges
of the Division Bench on the nature of the widow's estate,-one opining :as the
Will conferring a "limited estate" and the other opining as conferring an "absolute estate" the; appeal was set down to a third Judge who agreed with the view
that the WiJJ conferred only a "limited estate" upon the widow and dismissed
the appeal.
Confirming the, decree of the courts below and dismissing the appeal by certiF
ficate, the Court,
G
H
HELD : ( 1) The following are the established principles for construing the
I anguage of the WiJJ.
(a) In construing a document whether in English or in vernacular the fundamental rule is to ascertain the intention from the words used; the surrounding
circumstances being considered to find out the intended meaning of such words
employed therein. [927F-G]
(b) In construing the language, of the Wi!J the court is entitled to put itself
into the testator's armchair and is bound to bear in mind also other matters
than merely the words used like the surrounding circumstances, the position
of the testator, his family relationship, the probability that he would use words
in a particular sense-all as an aid to arriving at a right construction of the
Will, and to ascertain the meaning of its language when used by that particular
testator in that document.
[927G-H, 928A]
( c) The true intention of the testator has to be gathered not by attaching
importance to isolated expressions but by reading the WiJI as a whole with all
its provisions and ignoring none of them as redundant or contradictory. [928B]
( d) The court must accept, if possible, such construction as would give
to every expression some effect rather than that which would render any of
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NAVNEET LAL V. GOKUL
925
the expresssion inoperative.
The court will look at the circumstanc:s un~er
A
which the testator makes his Will, such as the state of his property, of his. family
ahd the like. Where apparently conflicting dispositions can be rec~nciled by
giving full effect to every word u>ed in a document, such a construcllon should
be accepted instead of a construction which would have the effect of cuttmg
down the clear meaning of the words used by the testator. Further, where
one of ihe two reasonable constructions would lead to intestacy, that should
be discarded in favour of a construction which does
not create
and such
hiatus.
[928C-E]
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(e) It is one of' the cardinal principles of construction of Wills that to the
extent that it is legally possible effect should be given to every disposition contained in the Will unless the law prevents effect being given to· it. Of course,
if there are two repugnant provisi9ns conferring successive interests, if the first
interest created is valid the subsequent interest cannot take effect but a court
of construction will proceed to the farthest extent to avoid repugnancy, so that
effect could be given as far as possible to every testamentary intention contained
in the Will.
[92.8E-G]
C
Ram Gopal v. Nand Lal and others [1950] SCR 766/772; Venkata Nara·
simha v. Parthasarathy, 42 Indian Appeal~ 51/72; Gnanambal Ammal v. T. Raju
Ayyar and others, [1950] SCR 949/955; Raj Bajrang Bahadur Singh v. Thakurain
Baklztraj Kuer, [1953] SCR 232/240; Pearey Le.[ v. Rameshwar Das [1963] Supp.
SCR 834/839/842 and Ramachandra Shenoy and Anr. v. Mrs. Hilda Brite and
others.
f19641 ;2 SCR 722/735, applied.
(ii) The term "malik" when used in a Will or other document as descriptive of the position which a devisee or donee Is !Iltended to hold, bas been held
D
apt to describe an owner possessed of full proprietary rights, including a full
right of alienation, unless there is something in the context or in the surround·
ing circumstances to indicate that such full proprietary rights were not intended
to be conferred, but the meaning of every word in an Indian Will must always
depend upon the setting in which it is placed, the subject to which it is related
and the locality of the testator from which it may receive its true' shade of
meaning. The intention of the testator will have to be gathered from all the
relevant and material contents in the entire Will made in situation in which
the testator was placed in life in the background of his property, his inclinations,
E
wisl1es, desires and attitudes as can be clearly and unambiguously found either
from the recitals from the instrument or from absolutely undoubted contemporaneous legally admissible evidence.
Hence, even the words "malik muakkil"
can be qualified by other word5 and circumstances appearing in the document.
[930 B-C & G-H]
S:asiman Chowqhurain and others v. Shih Narayan Chowdhury and others,
49 Indian Appeals 25/35; Musammat Surajmani and others v. Rabi Nath Ojlza
and another, 35 Indian Appeals 17; Krishna Bihari/al v. Gulabchand c<nd others,
F
(1971) Snpp. SCR 27 and Dhyan Singh and anr. v. Jugal Kishore and
anr ..
[1952] SCR 478, discussed.
(iii) In the instant case, the testator intended a life estate for his wife so
long as she lived as is clear from the reading of the present Will as a whole.
This is consistent with his description of Gokul as "my heir (waris)" after his
death. It is further consistent with the recital that "if per chance Mrs. Jarian
dies in my life time, then Gokul, aforesaid will be the absolute ~wner (malik
kam!l) of the estate left by me (matruka meri) and he shall have power of
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makmg all sorts of transfers ( aurusko har qism ke akhtiyarat inteqalat basil
h9nge) '.'.
In obvious contrast even though! Smt. J arian was made the malik of
his enUre estate after his death "having all the proprietary rights" nothing is
stated about her "power of making all sorts of transfers" which power is expressly mentioned as belonging to him and also exclusively conferred upon
Gokul after Smt. J arian's death. While describing his own "proprietary powers"
the testator made reference to bis "power of making transfers of all sorts".
This power of making transfers which was prominent in the mind of the testator
flt the time of execution of the Will is conspicuous by total omission in relation
H
t? Smt. Jarian's enjoyment ?f the property. The testator has made the distinctu?n between m~re ownership of property and ownership of the same coupled
with a transfer m every way.
[931 A-DJ
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926
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1976] 2 S.C.R.
Further, from the recitals in the Will about his only reversioners viz.; his.
brother and nephew "might trouble and harass my wife Mst. Jarian and my
sister's son Gokul", it is clear that the testator never intended that his property
should pass to bis brother and nephew.
This intention would be achieved by
holding that there was a devise of a life estate to his wife and an absolute
est<ltc thereafter to Gokul indicating a different line of inheritance in the Wilr.
On the other hand, if any absolute estate would have been conferred on the
widow, then on her. death the property w~mld have passed on by inheritance
to her husband's heirs who were none else than the brother and the nephew
of the testator. There was no other heir of Mst. Jarian to inherit the property after her death.
[931 G-H, 932 A-Bl
A plenitude of absolute estate in favour of the wife will make the absolute
bequest to Gokul void in law.
No such repugnant interpretation detrimentaf
to the interest of Gokul can be made in the light of the entire tenor of the
instrument. The testator intended to bequeath in favour of bis widow only a
life estate and after her death an absolute estate to uokul. [932B-C]
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 914 of 1968.
(From the judgment and decree dated the 9th April, 1962, of th~
Allahabad High Court in first Appeal No. 283 of 1950).
Naunit Lal, K. G. Bhargava and Miss Lalita Kohli for the appellant.
G. S. Pathak, D. P. Singh
and M. G. Goswami for respondents
nos. 1 (a) to 1 (f).
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
GOSWAMI, J.
This appeal by certificate from the judgment and
decree of the Allahabad High Court raises an important question with
regard to the construction of a will.
The respondent Gokul (whose
heirs have been impleaded after his death) was the original plaintiff
in a suit for declaration that he was the absolute owner under a will of
the property in suit and for possession of certain of them.
He also
claimed certain movable properties with which we are not concerned
in this appeal.
The property in suit was originally in exclusive
ownership
and
possession of Bhola Chaubey, tlie testator.
Bhola
Chaubey,
was
governed by the Mitakshra School of Hindu Law.
He belonged to the
class of priests and was an old man of 67 years at the time when he
executed the will on September 21, 1916.
He had then
a
legally
wedded wife, Smt. J arian, approaching nearly her fortyfifth year and
they had no issue in wedlock.
The only person whom the testator
appeared to have almost treated like a son was the respondent Gokul,
doubly related to the testator, being his sister's son and also his wife's
brother's son.
Gokul had been with him since childhood
and
the
testator got him married.
Gokul in return had been serving the testator to his satisfaction and was in enjoyment of his full confidence and
· affection till the testator's death in 1918.
Gokul was then aged about
23 years.
It was directed in the will that Smt. Jarian would get the
obsequies and other religious rites of the testator performed by GokuI.
After the death of the testator Smt. Jarian and Gokul continued
to live in cordiality for nearly 18 years.
Feelings,
however,
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NAVNEET LAL v. GOKUL (Goswami, J.)
927
~stranged some time after that and there was even litigation, criminal
A
and civil, between Smt. Jarian and Gokul.
It appears Smt.
Jarian,
who died in March, 1948, had executed a gift deed and a will in respect of certain properties in suit in favour of the appellant, Navneet
Lal.
All this led to the institution of the present suit out of which
this appeal has arisen.
The case of the appellant was that Bhola Chaubey had given an
absolute estate under the will to his wife, Smt. Jarian, and she was,
therefore, entitled to deal with the property as she liked and hence the
deed of gift and the will in favour of the appellant were perfectly valid.
According to the appellant the respondent had no right to file the suit
basing upon the will executed by Bhola Chaubey.
According to the respondent the will conferred on Smt. J arian only
a life estate during her life and after her death an absolute estate of the
testator's entire property on the respondent.
The Civil Judge, Mathura, decreed the respondent's suit except
with reference to the movable property mentioned in Schedule 0 to the
plaint as well as in respect of certain muafi zamindari property in
Schedule A to the plaint.
The appellant appealed to the High Court
at Allahabad and when the matter came up for disposal by a Division
Bench of that court, there was a difference of opinion between the
Judges.
Srivastava, J. held that the testator had no intention of conferring a limited life estate only on his wife and that she acquired an
absolute estate by virtue of the will.
On the other hand, B. Dayal, J.
took a contrary view holding that Bhola Chaubey intended to
give
merely a life estate to Smt. Jarian and to make Gokul full owner of
the property after her death.
The appeal was then set down for hearing before a third Judge, (Dhawan, J.) who agreed with B. Dayal, J.
resulting in dismissal of the appeal.
We are concerned in this appeal only with the construction of the
will executed in the year 1916.
From the earlier decisions of this Court the following principles,
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inter alia, are well established :-
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(1)
(2)
In construing a document whether in English or in
vernacular the fundamental rule is to ascertain the
intention from the words used; the surrounding circumstances are to be considered; but that is only
for the purpose of finding out the intended meaning
of the words which have actually been employed.
[Ram Gopal v. Nand Lal and Others(l)].
In construing the language of the will the court is
entitled to put itself into the testator's armchair [Venkata Narasimha v. Parthasarathy(2)] and is bound
to bear in mind also other matters than merely the
words used. It must consider the surrounding circumstances, the position of the testator, his
family
(l) [1950] SCR 766/772.
(2) 42 Indian Appeals 51 /72.
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1976] 2 S.C.R.
relationship, the probability that he would use words
in a particular sense .... but all this is solely as an aid
to arriving at a right construction of the will, and to
ascertain the meaning of its language when used by
that particular testator in that document.
[V enkata
Narasimha's case supra and Gnanambal Ammal v.
T. Raju Ayyar and Others(!)].
(3) The true intention of the testator has to be gathered
not by attaching importance to isolated expressions
but by reading the will as a whole with all its provisions and ignoring none of them as redundant or
contradictory [Raj
Bajrang
Bahadur
Singh
v.
Thakurain Bakhtraj Kuer(") ].
( 4) The court must accept, if possible, such construction as would give to every expression some effect
rather than that which would render any of the expression inoperative.
The court will look
at
the
circumstances under which the testator makes
his
will, such as the state of his property, of his family
and the like.
Where apparently conflicting dispositions can be reconciled by giving full effect to every
word used in a document, such a construction should
be accepted instead -of a construction whkh would
have the effect of cutting down the clear meaning of
the words used by the testator.
Further, where one
of the two reasonable constructions would lead to
intestacy, that should be discarded in favour
of a
construction which does not create any such hiatus.
[Paerey Lal v. Rameshwar Das( 3) ].
(5) It is one of the cardinal principles of construction of
wills that to the extent that it is legally possible effect
should be given to every disposition contained in the
will unless the law prevents effect being given to it,
Of course, if there are two repugnant provisions conferring successive interests, if the first interest created is valid the subsequent interest cannot take effect
but a Court of .construction will
proceed
to
the
farthest extent to avoid repugnancy, so that effect
could be given as far as possible to every tastan;tentary intention contained in the will.
[Ramachandra
Shenoy and Another v.
Mrs.
Hilda
Brite
and
Other(')l.
Bearing in mind the above principles we may now look at the will
in question as a whole.
This will is written in the urdu language.
An
official translation is placed on the record.
From the contents of the
will we find the background and the exact position of relationship of
the parties set out earlier.
Gokul was residing with Bhola Chaubey
(1) [1950] SCR 949/955.
(2) [1953] SCR 232/240.
(3) [1963] Supp. 2 SCR 834/839/842.
(4) [1964] 2 SCR 722/735.
•
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NAVNEET LAL v. GOKUL (Goswami, !.)
929
and Smt. Jarian. It may bear repetition that Gokul was held in great
love and affection by the testator who was keenly anxious for the welfare both of his wife and of Gokul.
There is yet another feature
which is prominent in the will.
The testator was apprehensive of his
only brother, Ram Raj and his nephew, Kishnu, who "might trouble
his wife and Gokul after his death."
From such of the aforesaid prefatory recitals as appear in the
will, two objects stand out, namely, that he was deeply interested in
the enjoyment of his property movable and immovable after his death
· by his wife and after her death by Gokul.
The second qbject was that
he intended that his property should not fall into the hands of his
brother and nephew who had been separate from him since long after
some arbitration and even bore ill-will against him and his wife.
After the above revelation of his mental attitude in the will there
follows the following recitals :-
"So long as I, the executant, am alive, I myself shall
remain the owner in possession (malik wa qabiz)
of my
entire movable and immovable property and of the income
from Birt Jijmani. After my death Mst. Jarian, the wedded
wife of me, the executant, shall be the owner (malik) of my
entire estate, movable and immovable, and of the income
from Birt Jijmani and shall have all the proprietary powers
(aur usko jamiya akhtiyarat malikana hasil honge). After the
death of Mst. J arian, Gokul aforesaid shall be the owner of
the entire estate left by me (malik kamil jaidad matruka
meri ka hoga), and he shall have all the proprietary powers
and the power of making transfer of all sorts (aur usko jamiya
akhtiyarat malikana wa inteqalat har qism hasil honge). If
per chance, Mst. Jarian dies in my life time, then Gokul
aforesaid will be the absolute owner (malik kamil) of the
estate left by me (matruka meri) and he shall have power of
making all sort of transfers (aur usko har quism ke akhtiyarat
inteqalat hasil honge). Gokul aforesaid should go to Jijmana
and should continue to give to Mst. Jarian during her life
time the charitable gifts ( daan dakshina) which he brings
from there.
After her death he might continue to be benefited thereby. Mst. Jarian should get my obsequies, Barsi
(annual death
ceremony),
Chhamchhi
etc.
performed
through Gokul aforesaid according to the custom prevalent in
the brotherhood. It will be the duty of Gokul aforesaid to
obey and serve my wife Mst. Jarian. It will be necessary for
Mst. Jarian to keep my heir (waris) Gokul aforesaid and to
act in consultation with him.
At present I have the following immovable properties and the Birt Jijmani. If in addition to these I purchase or get any property the aforesaid
· persons shall be the owners of that also according to the
aforesaid conditions".
Mr. Naunit Lal, on behalf of the appellant, submits that since the
testator stated in the wl!1 that after his death Smt. J arian "shall be the
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930
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1976] 2 S.C.R.
owner (malik) of my entire estate ..... and shall have all the proprietary powers ( aur usko jamiya akhtiyarat malikana basil honge) ",
it is absolutely clear that he intended to confer upon his wife an absolute estate to his entire property.
Mr. G. S. Pathak, on behalf of the
respondents, contests the proposition.
In support of his contention, Mr. Naunit Lal draws our attention
to several decisions wherein the word 'malik' has been noticed and
explained.
The term 'malik' when used in a will or other document as descriptive of the position which a devisee or donee is intended to hold, has
been held apt to describe an owner possessed of full proprietary rights,
including a full right of alienation, unless there is something in the context or in the surrounding circumstances to indicate that such full proprietary rights were not intended to be conferred, but the meaning of
every word in an Indian will must always depend upon the setting in
which it is placed, the subject to which it is related, and the locality
of the testator from which it may receive its true shade of meaning.
[Sasi111a11 Chowdhurain and Others v. Shih Narayan Chowdhury and
Others (1)].
We find observations to the same effect in Musammat S11raj111ani
and others v. Rabi Nath Ojha and anothere). It is, approved therein
that in order to cut down the full proprietary rights that the word
malik imports something must be found in the context to qualify it.
Similarly counsel has referred to the expression 'malik mustakil'
which was noticed in a decision of this Court in Krishna Bihari/al v.
Gulabchand and Ors. (3), and this Court observed at page 31 as
follows:-
"The meaning of the expression 'malik mustakil' an urdu
word, has come for consideration before this Court in some
cases.
In Dhyan Singh and anr.
v.
fugal
Kishore
&
A nr. ( 4) , this Court ruled that the words 'malik m ustakil'
were strong, clear and unambiguous and if those words are
not qualified by other words and circumstances appearing
in the same document, the courts must hold that the estate
given is an absolute one".
We are, however, not required to consider the words 'malik mustakil' in this case.
But it is clear that even those words can be qualified by other words and circumstances appearing in the same document.
It is, therefore, abundantly clear that the intention of the testator
will have to be gathered from all the relevant and material contents
in the entire will made in the situation in which the testator was placed
in life in the back ground of his property, his inclinations, wishes,
desires and attitudes as can be clearly and unambiguously found either
from the recitals from the instrument or from absolutely undoubted
contemporaneous legally admissible evidence.
(I) 49 Indian Appeals 25/35.
(3) [1971] Supp. S.C.R. 27.
(2) 35 Indian Appeals 17.
(4) [1952] S.C.R. 478.
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NAVNEET LAL v. GOKUL (Goswami, J.)
93!
Reading the present will as a whole and if every disposition has
to be rationally harmonised, we find that the testator intended a life
.estate for his wife so long as she lived.
This is consistent with his
<lescription of Gokul as •·my heir (waris)" after his death. It is further consistent with the recital that "if per chanc.;, Mst. J arian dies in
my life time. then Gokul aforesaid will be the absolute owner (malik
kamil) of tlw estate left by me (matruka meri) and he shall have
power of making all sorts of transfers (aur usko har quism ke akhtiyarat
inteqalat hasil honge) ". In obvious contrast even though Smt. Jarian
was made the malik of his entire estate after his death "having all the
proprietary rights" nothing is stated about her "power of making all
sorts of transfers" which power is expressly mentioned as belonging to
him and also exclusively conferred upon Gokul after Smt. Jarian's
death.
While describing his own "proprietary powers'' the testator
made reference to his "power of making transfers of all sorts".
This
power of making transfer which was prominent in the mind of the
testator at the time of execution of the will is conspicuous by total
omission in relation to Smt. Jarian's enjoyment of the property.
We have to give due importance to the lexicon in the will and we
find that the testator has made a definite distinction between
mere
A
B
c
ownership of property and ownership of the same coupled with powers
D
of transfer "in every way".
Ordinarily, however, without such clear evidence from the recitals
In the will' itself it may not be possible to hold that ownership of property, which is devised, without any thing more, would not connote
absolute ownership of the same with the power of alienation.
There is another significant feature in the recitals, when reference
E
is made in the will to acquisition of future property. Says the testator
"if in addition to these I purchase or get any property the aforesaid
persons shall be the owners of that also according to the aforesaid conditions".
The testator thus unerringly conceives of any future property being owned by both, by the widow during her life time and by
Gokul after her death in the same manner as the property that had alF
ready been bequeathed. The expression "according to the aforesaid
.conditions" is, therefore, very significant in the context.
We also find
that during her life time Gokul would be collecting "daan dakshina"
of the jijmani to Smt. Jarian and after her death Gokul would enjoy
the same.
There is no contemplation of any possibility to deprive
Goki.il of the' enjoyment of the property in any event.
All the above features run counter to the theory of an
absolute
G
estate in favour of Smt. Jarian.
There is still another clinching factor.
It is clear from the will that the testator had misunderstanding and
quarrels with his brother regarding ancestral propetty and the matter
had to be settled by arbitration leading to partition and separate enjoyment of property as far back as 1889.
It also appears from the recitals in the will that he had grave apprehension that after his death his
only reversioners, his brother and nephew, "might trouble and harass
H
my wife Mst. Jarian and my sister's son Gokul".
One
thing was,
therefore, clear that the testator never intended that his property should
pass to his brother and nephew.
This intention of the testator would
A
B
c
932
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1976] 2 S.C.R.
best be achieved by holding that there was a devise of a life estate to
his wife and an absolute estate thereafter to Gokul indicating a different line of inheritance in the will.
On the other hand, if any absolute
estate would have been conferred on the widow, then on her death the
property would have passed on by inheritance to her husband's heirs
who were none else than the brother and the nephew of the testator.
There was no other heir of Mst. J arian to inherit the property, after her
death.
A Plenitude of absolute estate in favour of the wife will make the
absolute bequest to Gokul void in law.
No such repugnant interpre-
~
tation detrimental to the interest of Gokul can be made in the light of
the entire tenor of the instrument.
Having regard to the context and the circumstances apparent from
the will, we are clearly of opinion that the testator intended to bequeath
in favour of his widow only a life estate and after her death an abso-.
lute estate to Gokul. That being the position the will by Smt. Jarian
in favour of the appellant fails and her gift in favour of the appellant
also similarly fails on her death.
The respondent's suit is- rightly
decreed by the courts below. The appeal fails and is dismissed. We·
will, however, make no order as to costs.
S.B.
Appeal dismissed.
-