The actual names of our clients to whom these case studies refer, are withheld
sine we are bound by client-lawyer privilege.
DESERTION BY WIFE
Facts of the case:
In a very interesting case,
our client was residing in Kuwait
and was married for the last
9 years. His wife had left him
for the last 3 years and had
moved to Hyderabad to her parents.
Her father, who was a Colonel
in the Indian Army, was creating
problems by not allowing our
client to meet his wife and
daughter.
Issues involved:
• Whether the wife had
deserted our client.
Decision:
The Court held that the wife
had committed desertion by leaving
the matrimonial home and decided
the case in favour of our client.
REVOCATION OF POWER
OF ATTORNEY
Facts of the case:
In another case, our client
who was settled in the US wanted
to buy a property in India.
For this, he appointed his friend
as his lawful attorney, who
was a lawyer in India. After
a while, our client planned
to return to India and therefore
wanted to revoke the said Power
of Attorney. When our client
informed the lawyer about his
intentions, the lawyer refused
to return the Power of Attorney.
Issues involved:
• Whether the nature of
the said Power of Attorney was
revocable or irrevocable.
Remedy:
We advised him to revoke the
Power of Attorney and drafted
a document for revocation of
the same.
Decision:
As it was a revocable Power
of Attorney, the court held
that our client had a right
to revoke the same according
to his own will.
INCOME STATUS OF NRIs
AND THEIR TAX LIABILITY
Facts of the case:
Our client was an employee in
India with a foreign company.
He was transferred to the wholly
owned subsidiary of the same
company in the foreign country.
He stayed there for some months
and paid tax on the income earned
from the foreign company.
Issues involved:
• Whether our client was
liable to pay tax in India.
Advice:
As he had already been taxed
in the foreign country, he was
exempted from paying tax in
India.
MATRIMONIAL CRUELTY
Facts of the case:
In a very challenging case,
our client took off for the
US after her marriage with an
NRI. The parents of our client
conducted a very lavish wedding
ceremony in India and handed
over a huge sum of money, jewellery,
clothes and other articles,
as a token of love to the bride
and the groom. However, the
reality was far from the truth.
Our client was continuously
subjected to harassment, maltreatment,
mental torture, physical abuse
and was forced to demand an
unreasonable dowry from her
parents in India by the husband.
Her husband loved another woman
in the US and finally deserted
her, after which she informed
her parents in India about the
same.
Issues involved:
• Whether the acts of
the accused amounted to mental
cruelty?
Remedy:
We advised her to file a case
under section 498-A against
her husband and his family.
Decision:
After analyzing Section 498-A,
the court held that all the
acts of the husband and his
family members had caused mental
cruelty to our client and the
case was decided in favour of
our client.
BIGAMY
Facts of the case:
Our client was married 35 years
ago and was facing violent treatment
from her husband since the time
of her marriage. To keep the
family intact, our client never
disclosed this fact to any authority.
However, as her children were
settled, she decided to separate
from her husband. It also came
to the knowledge of our client
and her children that the husband
was involved with another woman
in other state, for the last
1.5 years and was married to
her. The children were supporting
him financially, as he had lost
his job. Our client believed
that she would be harmed if
she continued to cohabit with
him.
Issues involved:
• Whether the husband
was guilty of committing bigamy?
Remedy:
We advised our client to file
a petition in the court of competent
jurisdiction seeking relief
against the husband.
Decision:
The court held the husband guilty
and imprisoned him along with
fine.
EVICTION OF TENANT
Facts of the case:
In a very critical case, our
client, who was settled abroad,
owned a house in India. He had
given a room in the backyard
of the house on rent for the
past many years. The tenant
had started a cable business
in the room and was earning
quite well. When our client
came back to India, he informed
the tenants to vacate the premises
immediately. To the surprise
of our client, the tenants refused
to vacate the premises and demanded
Rs. 25 lacs for reaching a settlement
in the case. When the wife and
daughter of our client came
to India, the tenants threatened
them almost everyday and caused
a lot of mental harassment to
the women.
Issued involved:
• Whether our client had
the right to evict the tenants
from the premises?
Remedy:
We advised our client to file
a civil suit in the court of
competent jurisdiction.
Decision:
The court held that the tenants
had occupied the premises illegally
and were using it for commercial
purposes. The case was decided
in favour of our client.
WILL
Facts of the case:
In another case, the father
in his will had granted the
company shares in the name of
his daughter and after her death
to be transferred in the name
of her husband (our client).
During the lifetime of the daughter,
the shares were never transferred
in her name. Similarly, even
after 14 years of her death,
her husband never received the
shares of the company.
Issues involved:
• Whether our client was
entitled to obtain the company
shares?
Remedy:
We advised our client to obtain
the succession certificate from
the court.
Decision:
The court held that the husband
of the deceased was entitled
to obtain the company shares
and the case was decided in
our client’s favour.
CUSTODY
Facts of the case:
In a very challenging case,
the parties were married for
the past 8 years and had two
children. Their marriage was
not working and they were planning
to file for divorce. The husband
had a condition that he wanted
the custody of one child, which
was not at all acceptable to
our client. She had already
undergone a uterus removal operation
and as the children were adolescents,
they needed the immediate attention
of the mother.
Issues involved:
• Whether our client was
entitled to the custody of both
the children?
Remedy:
We advised our client to file
a petition for the custody in
the court of competent jurisdiction.
Decision:
Keeping in view the tender age
of the children, the court held
that the mother should get the
custody of both the children
and thus the case was decided
in favour of our client.
FORCED MARRIAGE
Facts of the case:
In a very appealing case, our
client was working independently
in the US when her parents forced
her to marry in India. Even
after repeated requests the
parent did not agree and withheld
the passport and other documents
of our client in India. They
got her married against her
will. When she returned to the
US, she filed a petition for
annulment to nullify the marriage
there. The in-laws of our client
also threatened her that they
would charge her with a case
of cheating along with her parents.
Issues involved:
• Whether the marriage
was performed against the will
of our client?
• Whether the acts of
the in-laws amounted to mental
cruelty of our client?
Decision:
The court held that the marriage
was against the will of the
girl and the acts of the in-laws
also amounted to mental cruelty
of the girl and thus our client
was granted relief in her favour.
NO WILL
Facts of the case:
In one of the cases handled
by our team, the client who
was a NRI wanted to get the
possession of his mother’s
property transferred in his
name. The mother had died without
making a will.
Issues involved:
• Whether our client was
entitled to the possession of
the deceased mother’s
property in the absence of a
will?
Remedy:
We advised our client to file
a civil suit in the court of
competent jurisdiction and get
the property transferred in
his name.
Decision:
The court held that even in
the absence of a will by the
mother the son can be declared
as the sole owner of the property.
ILLEGAL POSSESSION OF LAND
Our client was a co-owner of a piece of agricultural land situated in India.
The client along with her husband went to England about 40 years back and had
been residing there since then. During this period the client visited
India only 6 or 7 times and in her absence, her brothers (who were also the
co-owners in the said property) were in possession of the clients share. After
the death of her husband, the client came to India and asked her brothers to
hand over the possession of her share of the land and the agricultural produce
thereof but the defendants refused to do so. Having failed to get help and apt
legal advice from any source, the client contacted us from England. On behalf
of her we sought the following legal remedies from the Court:
-
Recovery of the amount due from the defendants qua the plaintiffs share in the
produce of the said agricultural land by way of a Suit for Recovery.
-
Partition of the property in issue between the co-owners through a Suit for
Possession by way of partition.
The said suits were decreed in favour of our client and the defendants were
ordered to pay the amount found due towards the plaintiff along with costs of
litigation.
FALSE WILL AND FABRICATED RECORD ENTRIES
In a very interesting case the share of our client in the ancestral coparcenary
property of his deceased father was taken over by his brother on the basis of a
false and fabricated will. The client was residing in Canada whereas the
property and the client's brother were based in India. The latter threatened to
alienate the land in dispute on the basis of frivolous entries made in his
favour in the Revenue Records. The client had lost all hopes of recovering his
property. He then contacted us for legal advice and we assured him of our best
possible efforts in the case. We on behalf of our client filed a suit for
declaration praying for the following reliefs:
-
That the plaintiff be declared as the lawful owner of his share of the
ancestral coparcenary property, on the basis of his birth right in such
property as a coparcener.
-
That the alleged will be declared as a fabricated document and the entries made
in the Revenue records on the basis of such will be held as illegal and
inoperative against the plaintiff with respect to his rights in the property in
dispute.
Apart from this we also prayed for a decree for grant of permanent injunction
restraining the defendant from alienating or encumbering in any manner the
property in issue.
The reliefs so requested by us were granted in favour of our client. The
purported will was held to be null and void and our client was declared to be
the lawful owner of the property in question.
EVICTION OF PROPERTY
Our client was a 56 year old qualified doctor, practicing in the United States.
She was the owner and landlord of a shop-cum-flat in Chandigarh which was in
possession of the tenants on rent. Being an Indian citizen our client desired
to come back to India and intended to run her own clinic in the non-residential
portion of the premises in question. She required the possession of her
property for bonafide needs of occupation and residence but the tenants refused
to vacate it. To help her out of this we filed an Ejectment petition under
section 13 of the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act for ejectment of the
tenants from the said property on the following grounds:
-
Non payment of rent by the tenants.
-
Tenants being guilty of change of user of the premises in violation of the
local bye-laws.
-
Tenants being guilty of committing a number of acts impairing the value and
utility of the premises in question.
-
Bonafide requirement of the premises for own use of the petitioner.
The Ejectment Petition was accepted by the Courts and through an Ejectment Order
the tenants were directed to put the petitioner in possession of the property
in issue.
FORGED POWER OF ATTORNEY
In a very challenging case pertaining to forged Power of Attorney, our client
was a non resident Indian residing in the United Kingdom. He was the owner of a
three storey residential building in India with full proprietary rights thereof
on freehold basis. A close relative of our client, who was in physical
possession of this building, entered into an Agreement to Sell the said
property on the basis of a General Power of Attorney purported to be executed
in favour of him by our client. But our client contended that he had at no
point of time executed any such General Power of Attorney and as such the same
was fictitious, forged and fraudulent. On behalf of our client we moved the
Court for the following reliefs through a Suit for Declaration:
-
That the General Power of Attorney alleged to be executed by the plaintiff in
favour of the defendant is a forged, inoperative and non-est document.
-
Consequently the Agreement to Sell the said property, executed by the defendant
on the basis of the said General Power of Attorney is void and has no binding
effect on the proprietary rights of the plaintiff.
-
Defendants have no right whatsoever to claim any interest in the suit property
or and as such they are trespassers over the said property through wrongful
possession of it.
-
Permanent Injunction restraining the defendants from handing over the
possession of the suit property to any one.
The Court decreed the suit in favour of our client and held that the alleged
Power of Attorney was illegal and inoperative and as such the defendants had no
right to interfere in the possessory or ownership rights our client qua the
property in dispute.
DIVORCE
In one of the matrimonial cases handled by our lawyers, our client was a
resident of a village in northern India. She got married to a U.S. resident in
March 1999. Their marriage was solemnized according to Hindu rites at Ludhiana
and was got duly registered under the Hindu Marriage Act. Till April the
husband and wife lived together in India and thereafter both of them left for
USA, the husband on a work visa and his wife on a dependant visa. On reaching
USA, the husband told our client that he wanted to severe his wedlock with her
as was in a relationship with another girl. He abused and insulted her in every
possible manner and meted out acts of mental and physical cruelty to her.
Shortly thereafter the husband abandoned the matrimonial home, leaving our
client all alone abroad. Due to the acts of cruelty of her husband our client
suffered from depression for which she had to take medical treatment at her own
cost. Being not very conversant with the legal procedures pertaining to
matrimonial reliefs, our client contacted us from USA and narrated her woes. We
immediately advised her to move the Indian Courts for divorce. On basis of the
above facts we filed a petition for divorce under section 13 of the Hindu
Marriage Act on behalf of her. We pleaded that:
-
The husband had deserted his wife for the last more than two years without any
reasonable cause or reason.
-
The husband had treated his wife with cruelty of the gravest nature which
caused a reasonable apprehension in the mind of the petitioner that it would be
injurious to live with him.
-
The marriage had broken down irretrievably and there is no chance of
reconciliation between the parties.
On the basis of the above grounds a decree of divorce was granted to our client.
|
