Find the question and answer of Muslim Law only on Legal Bites.

Question: What is a limited estate? Does Muslim law recognise the transfer of limited estate? Refer to decide cases. [UPJS 1991]Find the question and answer of Muslim Law only on Legal Bites. [What is a limited estate? Does Muslim law recognise the transfer of limited estate? Refer to decide cases.]AnswerUnder Muslim Law, the concept of Gift developed much during the period of 610 AD to 650 AD. In general, Muslim law draws no distinction between real and personal property, and there is...

Question: What is a limited estate? Does Muslim law recognise the transfer of limited estate? Refer to decide cases. [UPJS 1991]

Find the question and answer of Muslim Law only on Legal Bites. [What is a limited estate? Does Muslim law recognise the transfer of limited estate? Refer to decide cases.]

Answer

Under Muslim Law, the concept of Gift developed much during the period of 610 AD to 650 AD. In general, Muslim law draws no distinction between real and personal property, and there is no authoritative work on Muslim law, which affirms that Muslim law recognizes the splitting up of ownership of land into estates. What Muslim law does recognize and insist upon, is the distinction between the corpus of the property itself (called Ayn) and the usufruct in the property (as Manafi).

Over the corpus of property, the law recognizes only absolute dominion, heritable and unrestricted in point of time. Limited interests in respect of the property are not identical to the incidents of estates under English law. Under Mohammedan law, they are only usufructuary interests (and not rights of ownership of any kind).

In Mohan Ali v. State of M.P, (1975) 2 S.C.W.R. 511, the Hon'ble Court observed that over the corpus of the property, the law recognizes only absolute dominion heritable and unrestricted in point of time; and where a gift of the corpus seeks to impose a condition inconsistent with such absolute dominion the condition is rejected as repugnant, but interest limited in point of time can be created in the usufruct of the property and the dominion over the corpus takes effect subject to any such limited interests.

The Privy Council in Amjad Khan v. Ashraf Khan, (1929) L.R. 56 I.A. 213, accepted the view that where the intention of the donor was to make a gift to the donee of the corpus of property with a condition attached that the donee should take a limited interest or take it for life, under the Hanafi law the condition would be void and there would be a complete and absolute interest in the property.

However, it was also held in Jainulabdeen Rowther v. Pappathi Ammal I.L.R., (1968) 1 Mad. 477, that a limited estate may be created by family arrangement provided it is supported by consideration. This is not repugnant to Mohammedan Law.

Mayank Shekhar

Mayank Shekhar

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