Delhi HC - Daughter in Law cannot claim share in in-laws property

Delhi HC - Daughter in Law cannot claim share in in-laws property

Delhi High Court has held that the old parents whose relations with their son and daughter-in law turn sour have every right to show them the door and the daughter-in law cannot claim any right to stay in their house claiming to be having a legal right to live in the matrimonial home.

Justice S N Dhingra observed yesterday, ''that the matrimonial home may not necessarily mean the house of the parents of the husband. In fact the parents can allow the children to live in the house as long as their relations are cordial and full of love and affection with them. Matrimonial home is not merely a dwelling unit.It is a place used by husband and wife for dwelling,'' Justice Dhingra said. In the present case, an old couple staying in Ashok Vihar filed a suit in the Delhi High Court stating that their daughter-in-law forcibly wants to stay in their house whereas she has her own house in Rohini.

A woman can assert right over spouse’s property, but not on that of her in-laws

Earlier, the supreme court had sought to redress the grievance of several aged in-laws who had been harassed by their daughters-in-law over their property.

“Sympathy or sentiment can be invoked only in favour a person who is entitled to it,” observed the apex court, while quashing several criminal cases filed by a daughter-in-law against her in-laws living in Gujarat.

A bench of justices SB Sinha and VS Sirpurkar also held that “maintenance of a married wife, during subsistence of the marriage, is on the husband. It is a personal obligation. The obligation to maintain a daughter-in-law arises only when the husband has died,” the court added.

“Such an obligation can also be met from the properties of which the husband is a co-sharer and not otherwise. For invoking the said provision, the husband must have a share in the property. The property in the name of the mother-in-law can neither be a subject matter of attachment nor during the life time of the husband, his personal liability to maintain his wife (mother-in-law) can be directed to be enforced against such property’’, Judges had ruled.

Delhi HC rejects Escorts plea against eviction notice

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) The Delhi High Court has rejected the Escorts hospital's plea against the eviction notice it had been served for not providing treatment to the poor as part of the agreement for lease of public land.

While dismissing the application of the Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre (EHIRC), a division bench headed by Chief Justice M.K. Sarma Monday said Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the land allotting authority, was justified in issuing the eviction notice as the hospital management was not adhering to the clauses in the agreement.

DDA's estate officer had issued a show-cause notice to the hospital for eviction, saying it had violated the terms and conditions of the lease deed that specified 20 percent free treatment for the poor.

In its application, the hospital contended that instead of conducting proceedings under the Public Premises Act ('eviction and unauthorised occupants'), the DDA should have filed a civil suit for taking back the possession of the land.

Counsel Sanjeev Puri appearing for the Escorts, now run by Fortis Healthcare Ltd promoted by the Ranbaxy group, argued that the land was never given on lease by DDA to the hospital and the estate officer had no right to issue the eviction notice.

DDA's counsel Ajay Verma argued that Fortis, a commercial hospital chain, had purchased EHIRC last year and the group was not entitled to avail of the government land, which was allotted at a concessionary rate.

On Oct 6, 2005, the DDA had asked EHIRC to evict from the 6.9-acre land as hospital authorities allegedly were not providing free beds to a required number of poor patients and transferred the hospital to Fortis for Rs.6.50 billion.

The land was allotted at a concessional rate to the Escorts Group led by late H.P. Nanda for establishing a charitable hospital and the hospital authorities were not supposed to transfer the ownership of the land to a third party.

EHIRC was established as a society in 1981 under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.

Between April 8, 1982 and June 14, 1996, DDA under the urban development ministry had allotted the land to EHIRC for setting up the multi-speciality high-tech hospital.

However, Escorts chief Rajan Nanda established another stock company at Chandigarh and amalgamated EHIRC with it on April 1, 2000. The amalgamated society was registered as a limited company on June 30, 2000 before it was sold to Fortis.

The main petition is pending adjudication before a single bench in the Delhi High Court.

The court had directed Nanda to maintain status quo and not to transfer its ownership till the matter was decided.

"There is prima facie evidence that some alleged violation has been perpetuated in the deal," the judge had earlier said in an order.

Nanda's estranged brother Anil Nanda in a petition alleged that the hospital was being sold violating all rules and regulations as it was established as a charitable institute.

"Late H.P. Nanda, the founder of Escorts Group of Companies, had conceived the idea of setting up a charitable institute of world fame to help the weaker sections of society and to create a medical infrastructure for the citizens of India. It is with this vision that EHIRC-Delhi was formed as a charitable society," said the petition.

New property tax imposed in Rajasthan

Jaipur, Aug 30 (IANS) The government in Rajasthan has imposed a new property tax in urban areas of the state.

In a notification issued here late Wednesday evening the state government imposed urban development tax with immediate effect. The urban development tax is being levied as an alternate to house tax, which was abolished in January.

Abolition of house tax was one of the promises made in the Bharatiya Janata Party manifesto released at the time of the assembly elections in 2003.

As per the new tax proposal, the government now plans to impose tax on residential plots of 300 square yards or more, on flats of over 1,500 sq feet and on commercial houses of more than 100 square yards.

The tax will be calculated on the basis of local district level committee (DLC) rates that will be divided by 2,000 to arrive at the tax figure.

However, the opposition Congress has decided to oppose any move to impose this tax.

"BJP government is trying to fool people by imposing the tax under a new name," said Pratap Singh Khachriawas, a Congress leader.

"We will hold agitation against this stubbornness of the state government," he said.

Delhi land use regularisation charges slashed

New Delhi, June 20 (IANS) The government Wednesday drastically reduced the charges to be paid by owners of commercial units in residential areas of Delhi to continue their businesses under the Master Plan of Delhi (MPD), 2021.

"Generally, the annual conversion rate has been reduced by two-third of the existing rates for all categories," said Union Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy.

He also announced a number of concessions to enable people owning property in the areas marked for "mixed use" - commercial activities in residential areas under the MPD - to avail of the new rates before the deadline of June 30.

He recalled that the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in its Nov 20, 2006 notification fixed the charges to be paid for mixed use of residential premises in areas notified under the MPD, subject to certain conditions.

"One of the conditions is that the owner/allottee gets the premises registered with the local body on payment of the registration fee and payment of mixed use charges every year to the local body by June 30 and also one-time development charges for parking," said Reddy.

Conceding that these charges were on the higher side, the minister said, "I appointed a committee comprising officials of DDA, MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) and NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Council) to suggest revised conversion rates."

Reddy said the charges were so high that "the response to the scheme for conversion is very poor and less than one percent of the affected persons have come forward to make the payment so far."

"Since there are only a few days left for payment, a facility is provided to pay one-fourth charges by June 30 and the remaining by Sep 30. In addition, a facility to make a one-time payment (as against annual charges) is being provided which will be eight times of the proposed (reduced) annual charges," said the minister.

"One-time development charges for parking can also be paid in two instalments of which one-third is to be paid by June 30 and the remaining by March 31 next year."

The DDA is issuing the necessary notification specifying the new charges, he said.