How can one shareholder prevent another shareholder from selling the property?
How can one shareholder prevent another shareholder from selling the property?
Ancestral property becomes a source of dispute in families. Many families can be seen fighting over property. Sometimes ancestral property is not divided. If the property is divided with mutual consent among the shareholders then the property is easily divided but if the property is not divided with mutual consent then the situation becomes one of dispute.
If the partition is to be done with mutual consent, then the shareholders can prepare the partition articles regarding their respective shares and get them registered with the Sub Registrar. But if any shareholder wants to acquire the entire property alone then the situation becomes controversial. Disputes also arise when some shareholders demand more than their share.
In this situation, one shareholder engages in a conspiracy to sell the entire property alone. A crisis arises for the remaining shareholders as to how to stop that shareholder.
Application to Sub Registrar
The shareholders apply to the Sub Registrar to prevent such property from being sold. Registrars do not pay much attention to such applications. Because the job of the Sub Registrar is to generate revenue for the government. If documents are brought before him then he registers any deed. It is not a proper way to stop the property from being sold by applying to the sub-registrar.
Selling such property cannot be stopped even by complaining to the police. The police do not have any authority in this regard, they can only take action in an attempt to stop the breach of peace in a situation like a fight.
what is the right way
Applying to the police and submitting an objection before the Sub Registrar does not prevent any stakeholder from selling the property and is not the proper method. For this, the shareholders who want to stop the property from being sold will have to file a civil suit for partition before the civil court of the area. Along with this civil suit, a stay application will also have to be submitted for immediate action. This stay application is submitted under CPC Order 39 Rule 1 and 2.
The civil suit for partition will take time to be heard but the stay application will be heard immediately. In such a stay application, the concerned sub-registrar of the area is also made a party along with the shareholder or shareholders who sold the property illegally.
In the stay application, the plaintiff, on its own behalf, requests the court to stop the defendant from selling the property until the final decision is reached in the suit and such an order should be passed that the Sub Registrar should not issue any deed in relation to such property. Do not register.
The court looks at the evidence presented by the plaintiff and the defendant in the first instance and listens to the arguments of both the parties. If the court feels that the sale of the property can be stayed till the final decision is taken, then the court passes such an order and bans the sale of the property.
This is the only legal way to prevent any ancestral property from being sold illegally by a co-sharer. Apart from this, no other process is appropriate to prevent the property from being sold.