Joint Family Property -- Existence of Joint Family Alone -- Does not render all properties joint family property
(i) Hindu Law -- Joint Family Property -- Existence of Joint Family Alone -- Mere proof of existence of a joint family does not by itself render all properties as joint family properties. Once ancestral properties yielding income are shown to exist and acquisitions were made during continuance of the joint family, the burden shifts to the person asserting self-acquisition. (ii) Hindu Law -- Joint Family Property -- Acquisitions Made by Karta -- Coparceners are not required to establish with precision the exact source of funds for each acquisition made by the karta. Where acquisitions are made during subsistence of the joint family and ancestral income-yielding properties are shown to exist, properties acquired in the name of the karta are ordinarily regarded as joint family property unless the contrary is proved. (iii) Hindu Law -- Partition Suit -- Plea of Prior Partition -- Separate enjoyment of portions, installation of irrigation facilities, or individual borrowings do not by themselves establish partition in law. What is required is a clear and unequivocal intention to sever joint status. (iv) Succession -- Will -- Suspicious Circumstances -- A Will bearing only a thumb impression of a testator otherwise habituated to signing documents, executed barely 72 hours before death, scribed by a close relative instead of a professional scribe, with the scribe's presence itself doubtful, raises genuine suspicion. Such circumstances justify discarding the Will, particularly where its rejection by the trial court has attained finality for want of challenge.
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