I

ntr
oduct
ion

Parti
ti
oni sdefi
nedast hedivi
sionofapropert
yint
otwoormor eparts.Par
ti
ti
onunderHi ndul
aw, i
s
thedivisi
onofaj ointHindufami l
y’
spropert
yinordertoconferseparat
estatusont heundi
vided
coparceners.I
tisi
mpor tantt
oremembert hati
naJointfamil
ywithonlyonecoparcener
,nopart
iti
on
i
sf easi
ble.Acoparcenerissomeonewhoshar esanestatewi
thother
sasacohei r
.

PARTI
TIONUNDERHINDULAW
PARTI
TIONUNDERSCHOOLSOFMI
TAKSHARAANDDAYABHAGA

Day abhagaschool:InaDay abhagaschool,everyadultcoparcenerhasther i

ghttodemandpar t
it
ion
byphy sicaldemarcati
onofhisshares.Parti
ti
oningbyl imi
tsandmet es,f
orex ample, mustadhereto
thedemar cat
ionofspeci
fiedpart
it
ionshares.
Mi t
akshar aschool:I
nMi t
aksharaschool,propert
yisnotdi vi
dedi nt
opreciseshar es,andwhilethe
element sofacopar cenermustbeshown,t hepr esenceofj oi
ntpropert
yi snotar equi
rementfor
pursuingpar t
iti
on.Todemandadi vorce,al
lthatisr equi
redisanunequi vocalproclamationofhis
wisht obedi vor
cedfrom hisf
amily.

TYPESOFPARTI
TIONUNDERHI
NDULAw

DeJur ePar ti
ti
on:Inanundi vi
dedcopar cenary,allexisti
ngcoparcenershaveaj oi
ntsharei nthe
property,andnoneoft hecopar cenerscant elltheexactamountofshar ethathehol dsi nthe
propertyunti
lthedivi
siont akesplace.Simplysai d,iti
sapar ti
ti
ont hathasoccurr
edbutnoact ual
possessionhasbeenassi gned.
Duet ot hesheerlaw ofsur viv
orship,t
hei nterestsoft hecoparcenerscanfl
uctuateaccordingto
bi
rthsanddeat hsoftheot hercoparceners.Howev er
,aDeJur edivi
sionoccur
swhent hecommuni ty
i
nterestisbrokendownatt herequestofonecopar cenerorbymut ualagr
eementthatthesharesare
nowcl earl
ysetordemar cated.

Def actoPar t
it
ion:Af terthesev eranceofJoi ntstatusorspli
tofcommuni tyinterest,unit
yof
possession,whichr eferstothecopar ceners’enj
oymentofpr opert
y,maycont inue.Althought he
numberofshar esint hepropertymaynotbespeci fi
ed,nocoparcenerwaiveshisrighttoclaim any
propert
yashi sexclusiveshare.“Adef act opart
iti
onoccurswhent heUnit
yofPossessi oni sbroken
upbyar ealdivi
sionofpr opert
y.”Simplysai d,i
naDef act
opart
iti
on,notonl
yt heowner shi
pbutal so
thepossessionofapr opertyistransferred.

SUBJECTMATTEROFPARTI TI
ON
1. I
ngeneral,
theentir
ejointfami
lyproper
tyissuscept
ibl
etopart
it
ion,butthedi
sti
nctpropert
y
ofcoparcener
si snot.Theexistenceofjointf
amilyproper
tymustbepr ov
enbyapl aint
if
fseeking
par
ti
tion.Wheret heexistenceofaj ointfamil
yisnoti nquesti
on,howev er
,eachcoparceneris
ent
it
ledtoanequal port
ion.

2. Somepr
oper
ti
es,howev
er,maybehel
djoi
ntl
ybyt
woormor
ecopar
cener
s,suchaswhena
coparcenar
yexist
swi t
hinacopar cenar
y,andi fagener alpart
it
ionoccurs,theseproper
ti
esmaybe
divi
dedamongt hesecoparceners,butothercoparcenersmaycl aim aporti
oni nt
hem.Ev enthough
theleasemaybesubj ecttorev ocat
ionincertai
nsi t
uat i
ons,i
ft hejoi
ntfami l
yisinpossessionof
propert
yheldonaper manentlease,suchpr oper
tyisalsoav ail
ableforpart
iti
on.Thepartit
iondoes
notapplytoimpart
ibl
eestat
est hatarepartofajoi
ntf amily
’spropert
y.[
1]

MODESOFAVALI DPARTITI
ONUNDERHI NDULAW
Fol
l
owingaresomemajormodesofpar
ti
ti
on-
· Parti
ti
onbyfat
her

UnderHinduLaw,thefatherhasmor epowert
hant heothercoparcener
s,andhisr
ight
saremor
e
powerf
ul.i
.e.‘
Pat
ri
apotestas’
,byenacti
ngapar
tit
ion,hecanseparatehimsel
ffr
om t
heJointf
ami
l
y
aswellaseachson,i
ncl
udingminors.

· Par
ti
ti
onbyagr
eement

Part
iti
onbyagreementoccurswhenalloft hecoparcener sagr
eet odissolvethejoi
ntstatus.The
courthasnoaut hor
it
ytorecogni
zeapar ti
tionunl
esst hepar t
ieshav ereachedanagr eementon
mutuall
yacceptableter
ms.Eachparti
cipantt oapar ti
tionagr eementagreesnott ocauseany
hi
ndrancesorassertanyclai
m orri
ghtont hepor
ti
ont heyhav edecidedtogi v
eupt hrought hi
s
part
it
iondeed.

· Par
ti
ti
onbySui
t

Fil
ingalawsuitincourtisthemostpopul artechniquetoindicat
eone’sdesi
retogetdi
vor
cedf r
om
thejoi
ntfamilyproper
ty.Theplai
ntif
f’
sstatusinthejointf
ami l
yproper
tyendsthemomenthestates
hisunmistakabledeci
siontoseparatei
ncour t
.Itusuall
yoccur swhenther
eisafamil
ydi
sagreement
orwhent hereisalackofmutualconsentamongt hecoparceners.

· Par
ti
ti
onbyConv
ersi
on

Conversi
ontoanon-Hindurel
igionmightresul
tinthelossofacopar
cener
’sst
andi
ngi ntheJoi
nt
Family
.Thememberwhoconv ert
edtor el
igi
onwouldl osehi
scopar
cenar
ymember shi
p,butthe
stat
usoftheot
hercoparcener
swoul dnotbeaffect
ed.

·Mar
ri
ageundert
heSpeci
alMar
ri
ageAct

Severanceofstatushappensautomatical
lyfr
om thedayofmar ri
ageifacoparcenermarr
ies
accordingt
ot heprovisi
onsoftheSpecialMarr
iageAct
,1954,andthecopar
ceneri
senti
tl
edt o
recei
vehisorherpartofthepr
oper
ty.

· Par
ti
ti
onbyAr
bit
rat
ion

Anagr
eementi
sest
abl
i
shedamongt
hecopar
cener
sofaj
ointf
ami
l
ytochooseanar
bit
rat
ort
o
arbi
tr
ateanddiv
idet
hepropert
yamongthemselv
esorcoparcener
sunderthi
smodeofpar
ti
ti
on.The
dateonwhichsuchapar
tit
ionbecomesoper
ati
onal
isthedateonwhichitwascr
eat
ed.

· Par
ti
ti
onbyNot
ice

Theintent
iontoseparate,whi
chmustbedi sclosedt
oothercopar
ceners,i
sthemostimpor
tant
aspectofparti
ti
on.Asaresul
t,whetherornotaccompani
edbyli
ti
gat
ion,apart
it
ionmayt
akeef
fect
si
mpl ybygiv
ingnoti
cetothecoparcener
s.

· Ri
ghtt
oDemandPar
ti
ti
on

Asa generalr
ule,anycoparcenerofa Hindu joi
ntfami
l
yhast
he r
ightt
o demand t
hatt
he
copar
cenar
y/Hi
ndujointf
ami
lyproper
tybepart
it
ioned.[
2]

PARTIALPARTITION
I
nmostcases,eachf ami
lymemberr ecei
vesadifferentpor
ti
onandacquir
esaseparat
epartasa
resul
tofthespl
it
.However
,therear
eoccasionalexcepti
onstothi
sgener
alrul
e;f
orexampl
e,asui
t
fordi
visi
oncansometi
mesbef oraport
ionoftheenti
reproper
ty.

1.Whengeneralpar
tit
ionofapr oper
tyisnotpract
icableduetocondi
ti
onssuchasal easeor
mort
gage,
theproper
tywil
lbel
eftunpart
it
ionedandt
her emai
nderwi
l
lbesubjectt
opar
ti
alpar
ti
ti
on.

2.Wher
evar
iouspar
tsofpr
oper
tyar
elocat
edwi
thi
nandout
sideofI
ndi
a.

3.Whenpr
oper
tyi
sownedj
oint
lywi
thst
ranger
swhoar
enotsubj
ectt
otheFami
l
yPar
ti
ti
onAct
.

4.Wher
esomepr
oper
tywasmi
ssi
ngoutatt
hepr
iorspl
i
tduet
oami
stakeorf
raud.

I
nthesei
nst
ances,apar
ti
alpar
ti
ti
onsui
t,t
hati
s,apar
ti
ti
onbasedsol
elyonav
ail
abl
epr
oper
ty,wi
l
l
bef
il
ed.

Whenaj oi
ntfamilyownsmor ethanonepr opert
y,oneofthepr opert
iescanbedivi
dedinhalf.I
t
resul
tsinseveranceofapor ti
onoft hejointpropert
ywhil
emai ntai
ningjoi
ntfamil
ystat
us.I
tisthe
propert
y’spar
ti
alparti
ti
on.Apar t
ialpar
ti
tionast opersonsoccurswhenoneper son’
sfamil
ywishes
towithdrawfr
om theunit.
[3]

PARTIESLEGALLYENTI TLEDTODEMANDPARTI TIONUNDERHI NDULAW

1. Specialpoweroff ather
:AHinduf
atherret
ainst
heauthor
itytodi
videhisproper
tybetweenhis
sons.Asaresul
t,regar
dlessofhi
ssons’ver
balassentordi
ssent,t
hefathercansevertheproper
ty
usi
ngtheexcept
ionalpowergrant
edtohi
m.

2. Son, Grandson,andGr eat

-gr
andson:Regardl
essofwhet
hert
heyaresons,grandsons,orgreat
-
grandsons,allcopar
cenerswhoar emajorandofsoundmi ndhav
et heri
ghttodemandpar t
it
ionat
anymoment .Anycoparcenercanmakeacl eardemand,wi
thorwi
thoutj
usti
fi
cat
ion,andtheKar t
ais
l
egallyobl
igatedtoobey.
3. Daught er:Daught
ers,
sonsi
nthewombofthei
rmother
s,adoptedsons,
sonsbor
nafteravoi
d
orvoi
dablemar ri
age,i
ll
egi
ti
matesons,andsoonal
lhavetherighttodemandpart
it
ionaslegal
copar
ceners.

4. Par ti
tionofcopar cenarypr
operty:
It’
simportanttoremembert hatacopar cenerhasthepowert o
demandpar tit
ionatanyt imewithouttheothercoparceners’approval.Sincethepurposetopartiti
on
thecopar cenarypropertyisannounced,eachcoparcener’sporti
onbecomesexpl ici
tandquanti
fiable.
It’
swor t
hnot i
ngthataf t
erthecoparcener’
sshareisest abli
shed,thepr opert
ynol ongerqual
if
iesas
coparcenar y.I
nthiscase, t
heparti
eswi l
lownthepr opertyastenants-in-
commonr athert
hanasj oi
nt
tenants.Thet erm“ tenancyincommon”r efer
st oasi t
uat i
oninwhi cht woormor epersonsshar e
ownershipofapr operty.

5. Adopt
edChi l
d:Ift
hewi dowofacopar cenerembr
acedachildaf
tert
heparti
ti
on,theembr aced
chi
l
disauthor
isedtoreopenthepart
it
ion.TheHinduAdopt
ionsandMaint
enanceActof1956, which
dat
esbacktothedateofthedeceasedhusband’sdeat
h,mi
ghtbeusedtoresur
rectthedi
visi
on.

5. Mi
norcoparcener
:Inthecaseofami norcoparcener
, t
hetestf
orpar
ti
ti
oniswhet
hert hedi
visi
on
i
sinthemi nor’
sadvantageori nt
erest
,orwhet heritposesar i
sktotheminor’
si nt
erest
s.It’
s
i
mport
anttonotethatthecourthasthel
astsayonwhet herornotamatt
ercomeswithinthescope
oft
heminor’
sinter
est
s.

Accor
dingtoHindulaw,ifaminorhasanundiv
idedpartinaJointFamil
y,t
heKar
taoftheJoint
Famil
ybecomest heyoungst
er’
sguardi
an.Ther
ightsoftheminorandtheri
ght
softhemajorare
i
denti
calwheni
tcomest otheri
ghtt
odemandparti
ti
onbyaperson.

Byf i
l
inganactionthroughhisguardi
an,thechi
ldret
ainstherighttocl
aim par
ti
ti
onjustl
ikeanadul
t
coparcener.However,ifi
tisdetermi
nedt hatt
hesuitisnoti nthebestinter
estsoftheminor
,the
casemaybedi smissed.Asar esult
,iti
st hecourt
’sresponsibi
li
tytoprovi
dejust
icetominorsby
safeguardi
ngthei
rrightsandint
erest
s.[
4]

PROPERTI ESNOTCAPABLEOFDI VISI

ONBYTHEI RVERYNATURE
Al
thought hegener
alrulei
sthattheenti
rej
ointfami
lyproper
tyi
sopenforpar
ti
tion,cer
tai
nspeci
es
ofjointfamil
ypropertyar
ebyt heirverynaturedi
ffi
cul
ttospli
t,andsuchproperti
escannotbe
di
vided.Asaresult
,ther
earethr
eeoptionsforadj
ust
ing:

Someoft heproperti
esmaybeenj oyedequall
yoral t
ernatelybyt hecoparcener
s.
Someoft heproper
ti
esmaybeal l
ottedtoacopar cener ’
sshar eandi t
svaluechangedinaccordance
withthevalueoftheotherpropert
iesassignedtotheot hercopar ceners.
Someoft heproperti
esmaybesol dandtheEar ni
ngsdi stri
butedt oothercopar
ceners.
Canl i
vingdwelli
ngsandpl acesofwor shipbepar ti
tioned?Thi si sacommonquest i
on.Thecourt
concludedinNi r
upamaBasakv .BaidyanathPramani ck[5]thatint hecaseofdwel l
inghouses,the
att
emptshoul dbemadet oreachanagr eementt hatleavest hehousewhol lyi
nthehandsofoneor
mor ecoparcenersorretai
nedf orcommonuse.Si milarl
y,itwashel dinPr amathaNat hMulli
ckv.
PradummaKumar [
6]thatfamil
yshr i
nes,temples,andi dolsshoul dbeassignedt oonecoparcener
wit
hthel i
ber
tyoftheot her
st ohaveaccesstothem forthesakeofworshi
p;t
hepropert
iesshould
bekeptinturn,i
naccordancet ot
heirshar
eintheproperty;I
fthefami
l
yreli
esont
heof f
eringsf
ora
l
iv
ing,eachcoparcenerwouldwor shi
pandt akethegift
sint ur
n.Theri
ghtofway
,aswel lasother
i
ndivi
sibl
epropert
y,r
emai nsincommonusagebyal lcoparceners

REOPENI
NGOFPARTI
TIONUNDERHI
NDULAW:
-

Fol
lowing thePar t
it
ion,Hindu law hasmadei tpermissibl
et or eopen orrevoket heparti
ti
on.
AccordingtoHinduLaw, incir
cumst ancesofMi
stake,AbsenteeCopar cener
,UndueInfl
uence,
Fraud,
Soni nt hewomb,Sonconcei vedandbor naf
terparti
ti
on,Di squal
ifi
edcoparceners,aswelland
addit
ionalproper
tyafterdi
visi
on,theparti
ti
onmightbereopened.

1. Mist
ake:I
fanymember softheJointfamil
yhavemist
akenl
yabandonedt
hei
rjoi
ntf
ami
l
y
pr
oper
ti
esandarelef
toutoft
hepar
ti
tion,
thepart
it
ioncant
akepl
acelat
er.

2. Fraud:Anypart
it
ioncanberev
okedifi
tisusedfordi
shonestpurposes.I
ftheasset
sar
e
fr
audul
entl
yrepr
esent
ed,forex
ampl
e,t
hecopar
cenerhast
hepowertoreopenthepart
it
ion.

3. Di squal
i
fiedcopar
cener:Theremaybetimeswhenthedisqual
if
iedcoparcenerf
all
sshor
tofhi
s
shareatthemomentofpar ti
ti
onduet oatechnol
ogi
calconstr
aint
.Her et
ainstheri
ghttohavet
he
part
it
ionremovedandthedisquali
fi
cat
ionl
i
fted.

4. SoninWomb:Ifasonisint
hewombatt
het
imeofpar
ti
ti
onandnoshar
eswer
eawar
dedt
o
hi
m,t
hepar
ti
ti
oncanber
eopenedl
ater
.

5.AdoptedSon:I ft
hewidow ofacoparceneradoptsasonaf t
ertheparti
ti
on,theadoptedsoni
s
all
owed toreopent hepart
it
ion.UndertheHi nduAdoptionsand MaintenanceAct1956,such
adopti
onsaretracedbacktothedateoft hedeceasedhusband’
sdeath,andt headopt
edsoncan
reopenthepar
ti
tion.

6. Absent
eeCopar
cener
:Ifacopar
cenerisabsentatt
het
imeofpar
ti
ti
onandnoshar
eis
al
l
ocat
edtohim,hemi
ghtr
eopent
hepart
it
ion.

7.MinorCopar
cener:Afterr
eachingmajori
ty,aminorCoparcenermightr
equestt
hatt
hepar
ti
ti
onbe
reopenedifhewasnotal l
ocatedhisshar eatthet i
meofpar t
it
ion.I
tusuall
yoccur
swhenthe
parti
ti
onwasunequal,unfai
r,oradver
setotheminor’
sinter
ests.

REUNI
ONORREVOCATI
ONOFPARTI
TIONUNDERHI
NDULAW

Ifanymemberoft hefamil
ywant storeunit
eandre-
joi
ntheirrespecti
veestateport
ions,t
hisisavery
uncommonpr acti
se.Iti
sfeasibleforthecopar
cenerstoreconnectafteratotaldi
visi
onbyundoi ng
thepreviousparti
tionamongt hemselves.Onl
ythosewhower einvol
vedint heori
ginalpart
it
ionare
eli
gibl
eforar eunion.I
faHi ndujoi
ntfami l
yspl
it
sup,thefami l
yoranyofi tsmember smayel ectto
reconnectasaHi ndujoi
ntfamily.
Thef
oll
owi
ngar
ethepr
erequi
sit
esf
oral
egal
HinduLawr
euni
on:

Onlyyourbr ot
her,f
ather,andpaternalunclecanpar t
ici
pateint hepar t
it
ionreuni
on.
Youcanhol daparti
ti
onr euni
onwit hthemember swhower einv olv
edi ntheparti
ti
on.
Sincereunionismor ethanjustanagr eementt ol
ivetogetherast enantsincommon, ther
emustbea
connectionbetweenest ateandproper t
yreunion.
Theobj ecti
veofther euni
onistobr ingallofthecoparcenersbackt ogether
.Reunionconfer
sari
ght
onallreuniti
ngfamilymember sint hejointfamil
ypr oper
tiesthatar ethesubjectofpart
it
ionamong
them,tot hedegreethattheyhavenotbeendi ssi
patedpri
ort ot heuni on.