Supreme Court gave important information, now son will not be able to stop father from selling this type of propert

Supreme Court - Recently the Supreme Court dismissed a case related to the father selling ancestral property to pay off family debts or for other legal needs. 

The court said that the son or any other party cannot challenge the property if it is proved that the property has been sold for legal necessity. The case was filed in 1964 and both the father and son had passed away, but their heirs took the case forward. 

A bench of Justices M.M. Sapre and S.K. Kaul held that Article 254 of Hindu law provides for the sale of a father's property. Pritam Singh's family in this case needed money to improve agricultural land and also had two debts. 

The bench said that Pritam Singh was the head of the family and hence had the right to sell his property to pay off the debts.

The petitioner can sell movable or immovable property, mortgage or transfer the share of the children to pay off the debt under Article 254(2). 

But the debt should not have been incurred through any immoral or illegal means. The court said that the legal requirements apply for family business or other important purposes. 

In this case, in 1962 Pritam Singh sold his 164 kanal land in Ludhiana tehsil to two persons for Rs 19,500. 

His son Kehar Singh challenged this decision in the court and said that the father cannot sell the ancestral property as he is a shareholder in it. The father needs his permission to sell the land. In this case, the trial court ruled in favor of the son and cancelled the sale.

When the case reached the appellate court, it found that the land was sold to repay the debt. The decision was reversed by the appellate court. 

In 2006, the case went to the High Court and the decision was upheld here. In this case too, the High Court division bench gave the same decision and said that the karta can sell the property as per legal requirement. 

Ancestral property can be sold—

Apart from paying off ancestral debts, money is also needed for the maintenance of family members, marriages of sons and daughters, family ceremonies or funerals, costs of litigation over property, costs of litigation over property, and to protect the head of the joint family (sangha parivar) from serious criminal prosecution. 

All these are important in maintaining the social welfare and economic stability of a family. For the welfare of all, family members take care of these duties.