Clause in settlement deed denying property to woman upon marriage is void: Kerala HC

Kochi: High court has held that a condition in a settlement deed stipulating that, if a daughter marries or becomes a nun, she would lose her rights over property settled in her favour and the property would revert to her brother, is opposed to public policy and therefore void and unenforceable.Justice S Easwaran issued the ruling while dismissing an appeal filed by a 62-year-old man from Vaikom challenging the judgment and decree of the additional district court, Kottayam, which had declared that the impugned condition was inapplicable and that the daughter, who is the appellant's sister, was entitled to enjoy the property as her own.The appellant contended that while executing the settlement deed in 1965 in respect of 10 cents of land in favour of his sister, their father had inserted a clause stating that if she got married or became a nun, all her rights over the property would cease and the property would thereafter devolve upon him. However, the daughter got married in 1971 and later moved to Germany with her husband.After the death of her father in 1983, she came to know that the appellant had mutated the property in his name without authority and was enjoying the same. She subsequently filed a suit before the munsiff court, Vaikom, challenging the offending clause in the settlement deed on the ground that it deprived her of the right to enjoy the property merely because of her marriage and was therefore void. The munsiff court, however, held that the condition contained in the settlement deed was valid and further found that the suit, instituted in 2008, was barred by limitation under Articles 58 and 113 of the Limitation Act, 1963. Consequently, the suit was dismissed. On appeal, the additional district court held that the impugned condition could not be enforced and declared that the daughter was entitled to enjoy the property, which led to the present appeal before HC.While considering the appeal, HC examined whether the condition incorporated in the settlement deed was void. It noted that Section 26 of the Indian Contract Act provides that every agreement in restraint of the marriage of any person, other than a minor, is void. HC also referred to Section 25 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, which states that an interest created through the transfer of property based on a condition will fail if the condition is impossible to fulfil, illegal, fraudulent, harmful to another person or property, immoral, or opposed to public policy.Accordingly, HC dismissed the appeal, observing that any condition incorporated in a deed of transfer that is forbidden by law or opposed to public policy is void and unenforceable.