Husband cannot claim exclusive ownership of jointly purchased property: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court has ruled that when a property is registered in a couple’s name, the husband cannot claim exclusive ownership merely on the basis of bearing the burden of EMIs alone.

The court, while hearing a number of issues arising from a matrimonial dispute between a couple, held that the wife is entitled to a 50% share in the proceeds of the property jointly held by the couple.

“Once the property stands in the joint names of the spouses, the husband cannot be permitted to claim exclusive ownership merely on the ground that he alone provided the purchase consideration,” the court said in the September 22 order.

“Normally, when a husband and wife acquire property during the subsistence of marriage, the presumption in law is that such acquisition is made from common family funds and that both spouses have contributed equally, irrespective of whether one of them is earning or not,” the court noted.

The court also struck down the submission of the wife that the proceeds from the sale of the property will become part of her ‘stridhan’ under Section 14 of the Hindu Succession Act and therefore, she has the exclusive ownership over the same.

“However, a property jointly purchased at the time of marriage cannot be treated as the stridhan of the woman, as stridhan is confined to those properties which are gifted to her voluntarily by her parents, relatives, husband, or in-laws, either before or after the marriage, and which are intended for her exclusive ownership and enjoyment,” the court clarified.

“A jointly acquired property, purchased in the name of both spouses, is by its very nature a joint asset and cannot fall within the ambit of stridhan, since it is not a gift exclusively made to the wife but rather an acquisition contributed to and held by both parties,” the court added.