A testamentary bar on alienation does not prevent beneficiaries from letting property and collecting rent.

The plaintiff filed O.S. No. 4992/2024 seeking to have a 2020 gift deed and a 2022 rectification deed concerning the suit ‘B’ schedule property declared void.

She also sought an interim injunction restraining the defendants from creating tenancy rights or entering agreements with third parties concerning that property. The trial court allowed the injunction application and dismissed the defendants’ application to vacate it. Defendants 1 and 3 appealed, seeking permission to let out the property while maintaining the restriction against alienation.

The appeal was brought under Order XLIII Rule 1(r) of the Code of Civil Procedure, challenging an order on an application under Order XXXIX Rules 1 and 2 CPC; the defendants’ application to vacate the injunction had been made under Order XXXIX Rule 4 CPC.

The Court applied the terms of the registered Will as described in the judgment: the defendants could enjoy the property and its usufructs, but could not alienate it to a third party.

The Court noted that the Will permitted defendant 1 and her children to enjoy the property and its usufructs, while restricting alienation to third parties. It considered that receiving rent from a tenant was consistent with enjoyment of the property and did not, by itself, amount to the prohibited conveyance.

The trial court’s blanket restraint on letting the property therefore required modification, while the restriction against alienation remained necessary pending the suit, which challenges the gift and rectification deeds.

The defendants were restrained from alienating the ‘B’ schedule property to third parties by way of conveyance, but could otherwise enjoy it, including by letting it to a tenant who would not conduct illegal or immoral activities there, and receive rent.

The Court expressed no opinion on the merits of the gift or rectification deeds, and left the parties’ contentions open for trial.