Gujarat HC Says Gift-Deed Witness Knew Of 2019 Deed At Registration, Dismisses 2024 Challenge As Time-Barred.

The suit challenged a gift deed dated 19 February 2019 on the grounds of coercion and undue influence. The plaint did not allege that the plaintiff’s signature as a witness was forged.

The plaintiff filed the suit in 2024. The defendant sought rejection of the plaint under Order VII Rule 11(d) CPC on limitation grounds; the trial court rejected the application, treating the date of knowledge as a mixed question of fact and law. The defendant challenged that order in revision.

The Court applied Order VII Rule 11(d) of the Code of Civil Procedure, under which a plaint may be rejected where it appears from the plaint that the suit is barred by law.

It held, on the facts before it, that a plaintiff who admitted witnessing the gift deed was to be imputed with knowledge of it from its registration on 20 February 2019; the Court identified no specific Limitation Act article or precedent.

The plaintiff’s admitted role as a witness to the gift deed established knowledge of the deed at the time of its registration, independently of the date of the executor’s death.

The Court therefore considered the trial court’s view—that the date of knowledge required evidence at trial—to be perverse. Since the suit was filed in 2024 despite knowledge arising on 20 February 2019, the Court held it was beyond limitation and that rejection under Order VII Rule 11(d) was warranted.

The civil revision application was disposed of, with a decree to be drawn accordingly.