Delhi court provides relief to widows in matter of property bought in their name by deceased husbands

Widows no longer need to worry about being ousted from a property purchased by their husband by any other claimants, in case the property was purchased in the name of the wife. Passing this historic judgement, a Delhi court stated that a woman has the right to not only live in but use the property as she deems fit, if it was purchased by her late husband in her name. The children of the deceased man cannot lay any claim on such property, even if they are the sole inheritors of everything left behind by the deceased.

The court passed the judgement in a case of dispute over property, where a 65 year old widow, Lajwanti Devi had filed a petition against her daughter and after the couple refused to vacate a portion of the house in Shastri Nagar area of New Delhi. The widow was also challenged by the couple over her right to the property, the abovementioned portion of which had been given to the couple for their personal use by the old lady, way back in 1985. However, when Lajwanti Devi asked her daughter and son-in-law to vacate the property, they simply refused to do so.

The judgement was passed by Additional District Judge, Kamini Lau, who expressed her anguish over the fact that Lajwanti Devi was forced to seek legal intervention when her daughter and son-in-law refused to vacate the property, which was rightfully hers. After analyzing all the facts related to the case, the court found that the said property was purchased by the late husband of Lajwanti Devi in 1966, in her name to ensure that she led a secure life even after he was gone.

The Judge also observed that Lajwanti Devi had provided permissive possession of the property to her daughter and son-in-law in good faith and also on the basis of their close relationship. However, this did not give the younger couple the permission to deny Lajwanti Devi what was rightfully hers. The court directed the defendants to vacate the premises within the next six months and also asked them to pay the damages to Lajwanti Devi.

The son and daughter-in-law were directed by the court to pay Rs. 10,000 per month to the older woman from the time when the case was registered in the court in 2014. The couple have also been instructed to pay the same amount every month along with interest to Lajwanti Devi from the day on which the judgement was passed till the time they vacate the house. The court also rubbished the claim by the couple that Lajwanti Devi had no right to file a lawsuit for ownership of the property, which was purchased exclusively by her late husband.