Partition Suit -- Sale by Karta Challenged Without Cancellation Prayer -- Failure of witness with personal knowledge to enter box justifies adverse inference against plaintiffs
(i) Hindu Law -- Sale by Karta -- Burden to Prove Absence of Legal Necessity -- A suit for partition challenging a sale of ancestral property by the karta on the ground of absence of legal necessity fails where the plaintiffs neither challenge the validity of the registered sale deed nor produce documentary or independent evidence to substantiate the allegation. Recitals of a sale deed remain significant to the controversy where its validity itself is not challenged. (ii) Evidence Act, 1872, S.114 -- Adverse Inference -- Non-Examination of Witness with Personal Knowledge -- Where a witness, such as the wife of the deceased, alone possesses personal knowledge of the family\'s financial affairs and circumstances surrounding a challenged transaction, and the plaintiffs consciously choose not to examine her, an adverse inference is warranted against the plaintiffs on the matters within her knowledge. (iii) Civil Procedure Code, 1908 -- Partition Suit -- Selective Suit Without Prayer for Cancellation -- A partition suit confined to only some of several properties sold by the karta, without seeking cancellation of the sale deed and while admittedly leaving out other properties sold in similar circumstances, is a circumstance that materially affects the basis on which the relief of partition is sought.
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