The Allahabad High Court has directed its Registry to place the case record before the Chief Justice. The Court asked the Chief Justice to consider administrative action against a trial judge. The High Court found that the judge ignored a photocopy of a death certificate in a title dispute. It said this gave an undue and illegal advantage to the plaintiff.
Justice Sandeep Jain allowed an appeal filed by the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (Nagar Nigam Ghaziabad). The appeal challenged a decree passed against the Corporation. The High Court criticised the trial court’s handling of evidence. It called the reasons for rejecting the death certificate “shocking” and “perverse”. It also said the order appeared “tainted with extraneous considerations”. The Court described the decree as “deliberate judicial misconduct”. It further remarked that the episode amounted to “daylight judicial murder”.
Direction for administrative action
The High Court ordered the Registry to place the file before the Chief Justice for action on the administrative side. It also criticised the then Civil Judge (Senior Division), Ghaziabad. The Court said the judge had passed a “blatant, dishonest and illegal order”.
Case background
The plaintiff, Inder Mohan Sachdev, filed a suit against the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation. He claimed ownership over the disputed land. He relied on an ex parte decree and a plea of adverse possession. He also sought a restraint against eviction from the plot. He asserted that the earlier decree had attained finality. He also said he had paid property tax for the property.
The Corporation disputed these claims. It said it had no knowledge of the ex parte suit. It pointed to another case filed by the plaintiff in 2022. In that case, the record noted the death of Sushila Mehra. The defendants also produced her death certificate in those proceedings. They said Sushila Mehra had let out the property to the plaintiff’s father.
The Corporation also alleged concealment. It said the plaintiff suppressed the 2022 proceedings while filing the present suit. It further referred to prior litigation involving Nandkishore Mehra and Sushila Mehra. It said the Delhi High Court had declared Nandkishore Mehra the owner of the property.
Trial court’s approach and the appeal
The trial court relied on the earlier decree and held the plaintiff to be the owner. It said the defendants did not verify Sushila Mehra’s death. It also noted that the Nagar Nigam had realised property tax from the plaintiff over time.
The Corporation challenged the decree in appeal before the Allahabad High Court. A key issue involved the death certificate. The trial court had rejected a photocopy of the death certificate as inadmissible.
High Court on the death certificate
The High Court rejected the trial court’s approach. It noted that parties rarely file original birth or death certificates in court. It also noted the defendants had no reason to file a false certificate. The Court said the trial court had no justifiable basis to ignore the certificate copy.
The Court also noted the source of the document. It said the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad had issued the death certificate. It found the death relevant to the dispute. It also found no reason to doubt the document.
Decree against a dead person is a nullity
The High Court found that Sushila Mehra had died in 1996. It also found that the 2019 suit came much later. On that basis, it held that a decree against a dead person is a nullity. It therefore held that the ex parte decree could not confer rights on the plaintiff.
Tenant cannot claim adverse possession against landlord
The High Court also addressed adverse possession. It noted that Sushila Mehra had rented the property to the plaintiff’s father. It said the plaintiff entered the property as a tenant’s family. It reiterated the settled principle on tenants. A tenant cannot claim ownership by adverse possession against the landlord.
Outcome
Counsel for Appellant: Advocate Shreya Gupta
Counsel for Respondent: Advocates Ramesh Kumar Singh, Shivam Yadav, Vinay Kumar Singh Chandel
