Gift of coparcenary property by adoptive parent is void where Hindu joint family rights are defeated.

Under Hindu law, an adoptive parent's power to dispose of property under section 13 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 extends only to property lawfully capable of disposition by that parent. It does not authorise a gift of coparcenary or Hindu joint family immovable property. Where the family status is treated as a Hindu undivided family, the father's alienation must be tested on joint family principles, and sections 6 and 30 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 do not validate an outright gift that defeats coparcenary rights. The transfer to the adopted son was therefore a void attempt to alienate joint family property.

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Issues: Whether, on the facts found, the transfer of immovable property by the assessee's father to the adopted son was a valid gift of separate property or was void as an attempted gift of Hindu joint family property.

Analysis: The assessment records treated the family as a Hindu undivided family. Once that status was accepted, the father's power of alienation had to be tested on the footing of joint family law. Under Hindu law, a father or managing member cannot gift away joint family immovable property beyond the recognised limits, and the power recognised by section 13 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 extends only to property over which the adoptive parent has a dispositional power. That provision does not authorise a gift of coparcenary property. The references to section 6 and section 30 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 did not assist the revenue, because they do not validate an outright gift of joint family immovable property defeating coparcenary rights.

Conclusion: The transfer was not a valid gift of separate property; it was a void attempt to alienate joint family property. The assessee succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: An adoptive parent's statutory power of disposition under section 13 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 applies only to property that can lawfully be disposed of by that parent and does not extend to gifting coparcenary or joint family immovable property contrary to Hindu law.

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