Disposal of Property—Section 27:
Under the provisions of this section, the court has power to make proper orders with respect to any property, presented at or about the time of marriage, which may belong jointly to both the husband and the wife. The object of the section is to prevent multiplicity of litigation in respect of certain property between the parties to any proceedings under the Act.
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Whenever the court exercises power under this Act, two prerequisites will have to be complied with—firstly, the said property should have been acquired at or about the time of marriage and secondly, it should be in the joint ownership of the husband and wife. The court can exercise its power under the section suo motu or on the application of any party thereto.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Where the wife alleged that the disputed properties, which were gifted to her at the occasion of marriage by her parents and other relatives for her use, should be held as hers, the court accepted the said contention and held it to be her exclusive property.
The section is clear, it meant only for making a division of the property presented, at or about the time of marriage, which may belong jointly to both the spouses. But Allahabad High Court in a judgment held that the court has inherent power to pass an appropriate order in regard to property which may belong solely to husband or the wife.
The High Courts of Delhi, Punjab and Haryana and Rajasthan dissented from the above view of the Allahabad High Court. The Rajasthan High Court held that Section 27 of the Act is concerned only with the property which is jointly owned by the husband and wife and which has been given or presented or gifted to them at or about the time of the marriage. It does not relate to any property which exclusively belongs to cither the husband or the wife.
The section omits to make any provision with respect to any property acquired by the spouses subsequent to marriage.