Mentoassociates.com – Legal Articles

Gift is a very common mode of transfer in immovable as well as movable properties. Section 122 of the Transfer Of property Act defines a Gift as a transfer of moveable and immovable property by one person called the “Donor” to another person called the “Donee”. A Gift shall be made voluntarily and without any consideration. The gift shall be accepted by the Donee during the lifetime of the Donor. A gift can be made only of a property that is existing and not of future things. A gift, once given, cannot be revoked, in the normal course, for any reasons.

A Gift Deed needs to be registered and attested by two witnesses. It also attracts stamp duty. When the Donee is a member of the family of the Donor (including husband, wife, son, daughter, daughter in law and grand children) there is a stamp duty benefit when the gift of the immovable property is made. Gifts not covering the above said relations and between strangers involve stamp duty as in a sale transaction. A gift of movable property can be effected by simple delivery of the property.

As far as possible market value of the property gifted should be indicated in the Gift deed. There should be a clause that the donee has received possession of the gifted property. The Donor should not reserve any right for himself in the gifted property.

In Y. Narashimaha Rao and others V/s Y. Venkatalakshmi and another reported in 1991 SCC (Cri) 626, the Honorable Supreme Court has extensively dealt with the rules for recognizing foreign matrimonial judgments in India.Relying on provision of Sec.13 of CPC and giving a wider interpretation of the same, the Supreme Court held as follows:

1) A foreign matrimonial judgment will not be recognized in India if it is not pronounced by a court of competent jurisdiction. The court shall be that court which the act or law under which the parties are married recognizes as the court of competent jurisdiction to entertain the matrimonial dispute. However if both parties voluntarily and unconditionally subject to the jurisdiction of the foreign court, then the same will be applicable.
For eg, as per the Hindu Marriage Act 1955, the jurisdictional court is the court within whose local limits,
a)The marriage was solemnized.
b)The respondent at the time of the petition resides or
c)Parties last resided together.
Hence a foreign court which does not qualify any of these descriptions cannot be a competent court to decide upon a Hindu marriage.

2) If the foreign judgments is not given on the merits of the case, then the Indian courts does not recognize the same. This is further interpreted as follows:
a) Decision of the foreign court shall be on the ground available under the law under which the parties are married. For instance irretrievable breakdown of marriage is not yet a ground for divorce of Hindu Marriage in India even though the Honorable Supreme Court by exercising powers under article 142 of the constitution has granted divorce in few cases under this ground.Hence to summarize, if a foreign court grants divorce in a Hindu Marriage on the ground of the irretrievable breakdown of marriage, then the same shall not be recognized in India.

b) The Respondent to the matrimonial proceedings shall be duly served and unconditionally submit himself/herself to the jurisdiction of the court and contest the claim or agrees to the passing of the decree with/without appearance.

3) If the matrimonial judgment is based on the refusal to recognize the laws of India in cases where such law is applicable, the decision of the foreign court is not recognized in India. Marriages in India are either under customary or the statutory law in force here. Hence the only law that is applicable to the matrimonial dispute is the one under which parties are married and no other law.

4) A foreign matrimonial judgment will be recognized in India only if the proceedings are not opposed to natural justice. This includes a) Duly serving the respondent with the process of the court.
b) Ascertaining whether the respondent was in a position to present/ represent himself/herself and contest the proceedings effectively.
c) The court shall require the Petitioner to make necessary provisions for the Respondent to defend including the cost of travel, residence and litigation if necessary.

5) If the Foreign matrimonial judgment is obtained by fraud, then the same will not be applicable in India. The fraud may be in relation to the merits of the case or in relation to the jurisdiction of the courts. This aspect was covered by Honorable Supreme Court in the decision Smt.Satya V/s Theja Singh (AIR 1975 SC 105).

6) Similarly if a foreign judgment sustains a claim founded on a breach of any law in force in India the same is not applicable in India.

With the increasing number of cases, where Indian nationals married in India, trying to get divorce and other matrimonial reliefs from foreign courts, it is interesting to know the legal position regarding the applicability of foreign judgments in India. In normal circumstances, the courts in India treat foreign judgments to be conclusive regarding any matter which is directly adjudicated upon between the same parties. However in the following instances, Indian courts do not recognize foreign judgments.

a) When the foreign judgment is not pronounced by a court of competant jurisdiction.
b) When the judgment is not given based on the merits of the case.
c) When it is based on an incorrect view of International law.
d) When it has not recognized Indian Laws where such laws are applicable.
e) When the proceedings are opposed to natural justice.
f) When it is obtained by fraud.
g) Where it sustains a claim founded in a breach of any law in India.

The Governor of Karnataka has asked the state government to clear the legal hurdles before it seeks his approval for the Sakrama bill. The Sakrama scheme is already stayed by the Karnataka high court on 11-12-07 based on petitions filed by Jagadishnagara Residents Welfare Association and Kalynanagar’s Prakruti lay out Plot owners Association.

BWSSB has decided not to sanction new water connections to multistoryied residential and commercial apartments till 2011 end.This was announced by minister in charge of BWSSB, Katta subramanya Naidu on 20-07-10.

BBMP Plans to clean and fill vacant and uneven sites which are filled with obnoxious vegetation or  filth causing nuisance and disturbance to  neighbours.As per provisions of Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, site owners are supposed keep their sites clean and tidy. In case they do not do the same, BBMP has the power to do the cleaning and then charge the said amount for the site owners.

As per press reports, BWSSB has issued notices to nearly one lakh building owners for not taking steps to harvest rain water.

The rural development ministry of the central government has come up with a Land Titling Bill which may revolutionize the property transactions in the country making them easier and safer. Accordingly property title will be conclusive and guaranteed by the government. Every immovable property will have a unique identification number. A Land Titling Authority will be formed which will enforce uniform procedures regarding titling. There will be a Registry of Title which will make entries regarding changes of the tile holder after a transaction. The overall scheme may help reduce litigations in courts and it will also make land acquisitions faster. There is going to be a 5 year deadline after which the transactions done beyond the purview of Titling Authority may be deemed invalid.

GOBAL INVESTORS MEET-2010

The Global Investors Meet was held on the 3rd and 4th of June 2010 at Bangalore at the initiative of Karnataka Government to attract investments in Karnataka. From the government side the key players included Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani and V P Baligar, Principal Secretary, Industries Department.

HIGHLIGHTS:

1.Government of Karnataka signed 361 MOU (Memorandum Of Understanding) with investors who promised to invest Rs 3.92 lakhs crores in the state during the two day Global Investors Meet (GIM) held at Palace Grounds, Bangalore.

2.Some prominent companies which signed MOUs included Arcelor Mittal, POSCO, Reliance, Brahmani Steel, Rajashree Cements, Wipro, Infosys, JSW Group, Shell and HAL.

3.About 3900 companies from 18 countries and 21 Indian states participated in the meet. Companies from countries like UK, USA, Germany, France, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Sweden Singapore, China, Switzerland etc, participated in the meet. About 7600 delegates also attended the meet. 20 % of the total investment proposals were from foreign countries.

4.Maximum investment was agreed upon in the Iron and Steel Sector followed by Power and Cement.

5.IRON AND STEEL SECTOR: In the iron and Steel Sector, commitments to the tune of Rs 2.43 lakhs crores were given for 52 projects. Mr. Lakshmi Mittal from Arcelona Mittal was the first industrialist to sign an MOU to start a proposed Steel Plant at Bellary for Rs 30,000 crores. Karnataka minister Janardhana reddy‘s wife Aruna Lakshmi singed an MOU on behalf of Brahmani Steels to set up a Rs 36,000 crore steel plant in Sandur and Hospet in  Bellary. POSCO signed MOU to invest Rs 32,336 crores in Bagalkot. Shree Renuka Infra projects Limited signed an MOU worth Rs 6000 crore for a steel Plant   in Vijayanagara.

6.POWER SECTOR: In the power sector the investment proposals stood at 44,152 crores in 38 projects. Shree Renuka Infra projects Limited signed an MOU worth Rs 6000 crore for a power project    in Belgaum.

7.IT: Wipro announced that it will invest Rs 537 crore for a software development center in Bangalore. Infosys signed MOU worth Rs 2,250 crore to set up two software development centers in Bangalore

8.HEALTH CARE: Eleven MOUs worth Rs 4,500 crore were signed with nearly 26000 employments assured. Sagar Hospital signed MOU worth  Rs 3000 crore followed by Narayana Hrudayalaya with 990 crores for  Bangalore Rural. HCG
signed an MOU to stet up a comprehensive cancer treatment and research center at Devanahalli near Banglaore.

9.HELI-TOURISM PROJECTS: During GIM, Karnataka got its first heli-tourism project. A Delhi based company signed the MOU to conduct the tour  packages in Hampi-Bijapur Sector(Hampi- Badami, Pattadkal and Bijapur). The aviation company said it will start its operation in  two to three months time.

10. INFRA STRUCTURE SECTOR: In the infrastructure sector, the government presented 89 project reports, worth nearly Rs 92,000 crores under  the Public Private partnership(PPP).

11.AIRSTRIPS: The government announced to develop 11 airstrips in small towns of Karnataka within the next 18 months. With these, every 100 km in the state will have air connectivity. The government had initially allowed the same under PPP; however no response came from the private firms. Now there are 5 airport projects under the PPP and AAI is developing 6
airports.

12. FINANCE: Canara Bank has committed an initial amount of Rs 20,000 crore, for financially feasible projects identified at GIM.

13.FOLLOW UPS: The state has already launched an interactive website for the investors. Passwords would be given to all investors who signed MOUs at the GIM. The government said that it will consider all these projects in the next State High Level Clearance Committee meeting to be held in June. The Chief Minister assured that the implementation of the projects
will be reviewed every month  by the Chief Secretary and once in three months personally by him.

The government of Karnataka has reserved the Bangalore Urban and Bangalore Rural districts for investemtnts in IT and aero space sectors and it is advising the investors especially in manufacturing sectors to go to places in and around Bangalore.

In Bangalore Urban district the government has only 2321 acres of land andin Bangalore Rural it has 3011 acres, mostly in and around Devanahalli.The Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board(KIADB) has acquired about 12,205 acres of land in Ramanagara district(highest among districts) for creating a land bank.