• Grandfather's property

Dear Concerned,

Please help me with your advice on the following property issue.

After partition of India my Grandparents came to Delhi from Lahor. My grandfather had bought two flats T-11(ground floor) & T-12(first floor) in refugee colony and the same were allotted to him by L&DO(Ministry of Home Affairs of Govt. India) on his name in middle of 1950s. He had made full payment as 25% by cash and 75% from the claim received against his Property in Pakistan. My Grandfather also got the Lease & Conveyance Deed registered on his name in the year of 1963.

Later on, due to his health issue(half body paralysis) and some financial crises, my Grandfather was forced to mortgage both the flats to his friend “A” for Rs. 900/-. No agreement had been made for this mortgage. It was all on mutual understanding.
As my Grandfather was bed ridden and could not able to move. “A” took over the ownership of both the flats by saying himself the “General Power of Attorney”. Whereas, my Grandfather had not given any power of attorney to anyone. “A” has a General Power of Attorney which is not signed by my Grandfather. In fact it has no sign at all. But somehow “A” had managed to get the further sale deeds registered for T-11(ground floor) in favor of his brother “B” and T-12(first floor) in favor of his Sister-in-law(brother “C”’s wife). Also there are further transfers of property within the family to make a long paper trail and now “B”’s family holds the ownership of both the flats in the records of L&DO and Municipal Corporation.

My Father did not file any case against them due to shortage of resources and family responsibilities. I got to know all this now from my Father. My Father also showed me some old letters came from Govt. bodies and relatives on the same address(T-11 & T-12).
I started inquiring about the facts and filed an RTI to get the details but both the owners have refused to give the information to me.

I want to know the possibilities and the favorable points for me to pursue the legal case against them.

Please address the following queries too:

1. Being the grandson, can I claim the flats(property of my Grandfather) in the court?
2. What are the possibilities of favorable judgement for me by from the court?
3. If there is no sign on General Power of Attorney, is it valid to get the further sale deed registered?

Please advise me and show me the right path for going forward.

Warm Regards,
Jatin Sharma
Asked 8 years ago in Property Law
Religion: Hindu

First answer received in 30 minutes.

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7 Answers

1) power of attorney has to be signed by your grandfather and duly notarised

2) if grandfather never signed POA then A could not execute sake deeds on basis of said POA

3) it is necessary to peruse the sale deed executed by A to advice

4) if sale deeds have been executed fraudulently then yiur father as legal heir has to move court to set aside sake deeds on account of fraud

5)when did your father discover the fraud ? What was he doing for so many years ? the delay in moving court for over 60 years has to be explained

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94822 Answers
7560 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. Being the grandson, can I claim the flats(property of my Grandfather) in the court?

If your grandfather is not alive, only your father can fight for it and not you as a grandson. You do not have any rights on it during your father's life time.

2. What are the possibilities of favorable judgement for me by from the court?

Any case filed by you in this regard is not maintainable

3. If there is no sign on General Power of Attorney, is it valid to get the further sale deed registered?

This is a legal point to be taken up during trial proceedings of the case if any filed by your father.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
85023 Answers
2210 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1) take search in sub registrar office

2) obtain certified copied of POA , sale deeds

3) contact a local lawyer

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94822 Answers
7560 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Your father can file a suit for recovery of possession of property and declaration of title on the basis of legal heir to your grandfather.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
85023 Answers
2210 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. The sale by A and subsequent sales are illegal as there was no mortgage, much less transfer of authority by your grandfather to sell the property. An oral mortgage is no mortgage. If the POA does not bear the signature of your grandfather it could not have been registered in the first place.

2. As your father is alive he alone can file a lawsuit to challenge the sale of property by A. If the court declares the transaction of sale as illegal your father will get the property back.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30763 Answers
972 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Dear Jatin

If the financial condition is not in the state to pursuing the case then file an application before District Legal Service Authority and get Free legal Aid from there.

No need to worry.

Nadeem Qureshi
Advocate, New Delhi
6307 Answers
302 Consultations

4.9 on 5.0

Hi, when the General power of attorney was not executed by your grandfather then question of further transfer of property does not arise at all. in the absence of General Power of Attorney "A' has no right to sell the property to anybody.

2. Now you have to file a suit for deceleration to declare that your grandfather is the absolute owner of the property and also for possession of the property.

Pradeep Bharathipura
Advocate, Bangalore
5604 Answers
336 Consultations

4.5 on 5.0

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