Kochi: Kerala High Court has held that a father purchasing property in the name of his minor daughter would not come under the purview of benami transaction. Justice P.B. Suresh Kumar observed that there was no reason to doubt the intention of a father who purchases the land for the benefit of the daughter when she was aged less than one year.
The court was considering a plea by James Antony of Chalakudy. He submitted that he believed purchasing a property in the name of his newly-born child would bring good luck. However, the person who sold the property challenged the deal under some pretext before the civil court which found that it was a benami deal.
The daughter is the owner and the petitioner has no right over the property, it said. James challenged the order. The petitioner argued that since the property was not purchased for the benefit of his daughter, he is the real owner of the property in question, though it was in the name of his daughter.
According to him, he had been in continuous possession of the property and remitting the land tax. He had also improved the property by planting coconut saplings and nutmeg. However, the trial court declared that the daughter is the owner of the land. But Justice Suresh Kumar cleared the deal saying it was not benami.
