The signatures in the translated copy do not tally with the Urdu copy is not sufficient reason to hold the surrender letter as unreliable as the translation can be incorrect but the correctness of the document in had not been disputed. This auspicious judgement was passed by Supreme Court of India in the case of Kiran Devi vs. The Bihar State Sunni Wakf Board & ors. [CIVIL APPEAL NO. 6149 OF 2015] by The Hon’ble Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul.
The present appeal was filed challenging an order passed by the High Court of Judicature at Patna whereby a writ petition was filed, holding that the Karta was not competent to surrender the tenancy rights in favour. The basis of such declaration by plaintiff was that, the great grandfather of the plaintiff, predeceased his brother who died issueless and his widow predeceased him. The brother handed over the possession of the hotel business to his nephew, the grandfather of the plaintiff. After his death, succeeded to tenancy as members of the Joint Hindu Family. On account of disputes over the management, the hotel was closed and it remain closed for several years. It was the plaintiff who wanted to resume the hotel business in the premises in question and thus communicated with the Wakf Board to continue the hereditary tenancy of the shop as Karta in his name. The cause of action was stated to arise when the plaintiff’s grandfather along with others broke the lock of the suit premises and removed the belongings available in the shop. The judgment of the Tribunal was set aside High Court and also a direction was issued to dispossess the appellant from the suit premises and to handover the vacant possession of the suit premises to the plaintiff.
The court opinioned that, “the petition styled as one under Article 226 would not bar the High Court to exercise jurisdiction under the Act and/or under Article 227 of the Constitution. The jurisdiction of the High Court to examine the correctness, legality and propriety of determination of any dispute by the Tribunal is reserved with the High Court. The nomenclature of the proceedings as a petition under Article 226 or a petition under Article 227 is wholly inconsequential and immaterial.”
The appeal was allowed by the court stating that, “Merely for the reason that signatures in the translated copy do not tally with the Urdu copy is not sufficient to hold the surrender letter as unreliable as the translation can be incorrect but the correctness of the document in has not been disputed by the executor or by the acceptor and on the basis of the statement of the plaintiff who is not a party to such transaction. It is one thing to say that the document is unreliable and another to say that the document does not bind the plaintiff. The document was validly proved and accepted by the Wakf Board. Therefore, the act of surrender of tenancy was for the benefit of the Joint Hindu family.”
