ALI

GARHMUSLI
M UNI
VERSI
TY
MALAPPURAM CENTER

GCT-
1

Topi
c:Kar
ta,
ItsPosi
ti
on,
Powerandl
iabi
li
ti
es
Subj
ect:Hi
ndul
aw-
II

Submi
tt
edBy:
- Submi
tt
edTo:
-
MohdNat
iqKhan MsNaseemaP.
K
18BALLB78 Assi
stantPr
ofessor
GI
0153 Depar
tmentofLaw
I
II
rdYear(
6sem)
CONTENT
I
ntr
oduct
ion

WhocanbeaKar
ta

Posi
ti
onofKar
ta

Power
sofKar
ta

Powerofmanagement

PowerofI
ncome

Powerofr
epr
esent
ati
on

Powerofcompr
omi
se

Powert
oref
eradi
sput
etoar
bit
rat
ion

Powerofacknowl
edgementandt
ocont
ractdebt
s

Powert
oent
eri
ntocont
ract

Powerofal
i
enat
ion

Kar
tal
i
abi
l
iti
es

Concl
usi
on

Ref
erence
I
NTRODUCTI
ON
Hindulawhol dsv ar
iousuni quef eat ureswithreferencetof ami l
y
i
nstit
utionsandt hejointf amilysy stem i sav eryi
mpor tantaspecti n
understandingthefunct ionali
tyoft hismechani sm.Thej ointf amilyhas
numer ousmember swi theachi ndiv i
dual owningtheirdiff
erentpr operty
ri
ghts.Event houghthei ndividual i
tyexi sts,t
hecohesi vestructureoft he
familycomesi ntothef orewi thr efer encetothedeci si
onswhi char e
requi
redt obet akenbyt hef ami lyasawhol einvariouslegal andot her
mat t
ers.Insuchsi t
uations, i
tbecomesexi gentthatthereisonei ndi v
idual
whoshal lheadsuchmat tersandhol ddecisionmaki ngpower s.Suchan
i
ndividualistermedast heKar ta.

IntheHi nduUndi videdFami l

y ,
theKar tahol dsav eryuni queposi tion.Thi s
suigener i
snat ureoft hekartaiswi threferencet ot hev ar iedpower she
holdswhi l
edi scharginghisfunct i
onsast hedeci sionmakeri nvar i
ous
respectsoft hefami lyfuncti
onality.Thekar taisconsi der edtobeaper son
withcont r
oll
edcapaci ti
esbutwi thinthisfringeout li
ne, hehol dsan
i
mmensel yimpor tantpositi
onofr esponsibi l
i
ty.Ther elationshipt hata
kartaholdswi thothermember soft hefami lyisnott hatoft r
usteeort hat
ofapar tnerorpr i
ncipal.Hisuniquepower sar e“verywi deandal most
sovereign”andt hus, i
tscompar isont oanypar tnershiporapr incipal-
agent
rel
ationshipisnaï ve.Thekartadoesst andi naf i
duciar yaccor dwi ththe
restofthemember soft hefami l
ybutt her elationshipcannotbet ermedas
thatoft r
usteeship.Ev enont heaccount abi l
ityfactor, hei snotaccount able
toanymemberoft hef amil
yunt i
litisamat terofmi sappr opri
ationorf raud.
WHOCANBEAKARTA?
WithreferencetoA.Kunjipokkar
ukuttyv.ARav unni
,i
twasnot edt
hatthe
i
nt heabsenceoft hefat
herinthefamily
, i
tist
hedoy eni.e.themostseni
or
memberoft hefamilywhoisconcludedtobet heKarta.Thisconcl
usi
onis
baseduponseni orit
yandtheopinionoftheothermember sdoesnothold
muchsi gnifi
cance.I
tmustbenot edthatapersoncannotbecomet hekart
a
until
andunl esstheprev
iouskart
ai snolongerali
venot wit
hstandi
ngfew
excepti
ons.

Whent hekar t
areli
nqui
sheshisri
ghttomanaget heaff
air
soft hef
amil
y
duetor easonsofhisheal
thorduetohim bei
ngaway ,anothermemberof
thefami l
ycanbeal l
owedtolookaft
erthejoi
ntfamil
ypropertywit
hthe
consentofallothermembersofthefamil
y,notnecessari
lybeingi
nali
stof
seni
orit
yofage.

Alandmar kcaseinthisregardist hecaseofNopanyI nvestments(Pvt)Ltd.

v.SantokhSinghwher einthekartaoft hefamilywasst ayi
nginU.Kand
couldnothandlethepr opert
yduet othereasonofdi st
anceandt hus,with
theconsentofallhi
sf amilymember s,appoint
edhisy oungerbrotherasthe
Kartaeventhoughther ewereot hermember swhower eolderthanhim.
Thiswasheldt obev ali
dbyt hecour tasitheldthatundersuchsituati
ons,
theyoungermembercanber ightful
lymadet heKar t
a.

Akartacanonlybeamal ememberandf emal escannotbethekar taofa

j
ointfamil
ybecauset heyar
enon-coparcenersandarenotallowedt o
repr
esentthefamilyi
ngeneralsit
uat
ions.ItwasheldinCommi ssionerof
I
ncomeTaxv .Lakshmi Nar
angthatafemal emembercanbeal lowedt obe
thekart
aundersomesi t
uati
onsbutthi
sjudgmenti sheldt
obei ncorrect
duetothenon-coparceneraspect
.

Withregar
dtothei ssueifmi
norscanbeakar t
a,itwasestabl
i
shedagai
nin
NarendraKumarv .CITthati
fthemi norl
eftastheonlyonetomanage,i
f
underthesuper
visionofaguardian.Itmustbenot edt
hatGuardi
ansand
War
dsAct,1890(Secti
on21)doesaccedetot
heval
idi
tyofami
norbei
ng
i
na“manageri
alposit
ion”ofaHi
nduUndivi
dedfami
l
y .
POSI
TIONOFKARTA
Kar
tai
ssuigener
is(
ofit
sownkind)t
herelat
ionshipbet
weenhim and
membersi
snotli
kepri
nci
pal
oragentorl
ikepartnersi
napart
nershipf
ir
m.

Hei
stheheadoft
hef
ami
l
yandact
sonbehal
fofot
hermember
s.

Hestandsfi
duci
aryrel
ati
onshi
pwit
hothermembersbutheisnotatrust
ee,
nobodycanquest
ionwhathespentunl
esschar
gesofmisappropr
iat
ion.

Whenanycoparcenerchar
gesofimpr
operali
enat
ionsmadebyKarta,
bur
denofproofli
esonhimt opr
ovesucharemalafi
deactofKar
ta.

POWERSOFKARTA
Wi
thi
njoi
ntf
ami
l
yKar
tahasv
astpower
swi
thl
i
mit
ati
ons.

1)Powerofmanagement
:-Hei
stheheadoft
hef
ami
l
y,hi
s
managementpower
sareabsolut
e.Hemaymanagethefamil
yaffair
sand
fami
lypr
opert
yandbusi
nessthewayhel
ikesf
orthebenef
itofestat
e,no
onecanquest
ionhi
smanagement .

2)Ri
ghtt
oIncome:
-I
tisgener
alr
ulet
hatal
lmember
swhowor
ksor
dobusi nessoutofjoi
ntfamil
yproper
tymusthandov
erincometoKarta.I
t
i
sf orKartatoall
otfundstothemembersandlookaf
terneedsand
requir
ement s,
solongasf amil
yremai
nsjoi
nt,
nomembercanaskf orany
specif
iedshareintheincome.

3)Ri
ghtt
orepr
esent
ati
on:
-Her
epr
esentt
hef
ami
l
y,r
epr
esent
sthe
f
ami
l
yinal
lmat
ter
s,l
egal
,soci
alandr
eli
gious.Hecanent
eri
ntoany
t
ransact
iononbehal
foft
hef
ami
l
y,hi
sact
sar
ebi
ndi
ngont
heent
ir
ejoi
nt
f
amily.

4)Powert
ocompr
omi
se:
-Hehaspowert
ocompr
omi
seal
l
di
sputesr
elat
ingtofamil
yproper
tyortheirmanagement.Hecan
compromisependi
ngsuits,
famil
ydebts,andothertr
ansact
ions.Howev
er
i
fhisacti
snotbonafidecanbechal
lengedinapar t
it
ion.

5)Powert
oref
eradi
sput
etoar
bit
rat
ion:
-Kar
tahaspowert
o
r
eferanydi
sput
etoar
bit
rat
ionandAr
bit
rat
or’
sawar
disbi
ndi
ngonal
lthe
members.

6)Powerofacknowl
edgementandt
ocont
ractdebt
s:-
Kart
ahaspowertoacknowl
edgeonbehal
foft
hef
amil
yanydebtduetot
he
famil
y,al
sohaspowert
opaydebtort
omakepackpay
mentofdebt.

Hehaspowertocont
ractdebt
sforthefamil
ysuchdebtsi
ncur
redi
nthe
or
dinar
ycour
seofbusinessar
ebindingonenti
rej
ointf
amil
y.

EvenKart
awhent akesloanorexecut
epromi
ssorynot
eforf
ami
l
ypur
pose
orforf
amilybusi
nessjointf
amil
yisli
abl
etopaysuchl
oan.

7)Powert
oent
eri
ntocont
ract
:-Kar
tahaspowert
oent
eri
nto
cont
ractandsuchcont
racti
senf
orceabl
eagai
nstt
hef
ami
l
y.

8)Powerofal
ienat
ion:
-Nobodyi
nthef
ami
l
yhaspowert
oal
i
enat
e
j
ointf
ami
l
ypr
oper
ty.Howev
erKar
tahaspowerofal
i
enat
ionunder3
ci
rcumst
ances.

a)Legal
necessi
ty

b)Benef
itofest
ate.

c)I
ndi
spensabl
edut
ies.

KARTALI
ABI
LITI
ES
Kartahasvastpower
ssametimehi
sposi
ti
oni
sfi
duci
aryandhasl
otof
responsi
bil
i
tiesandl
i
abi
li
ti
es.

1)Li
abl
etomai
ntai
n:-
Kar
tai
sresponsi
blet
omai
ntai
nal
lthe
membersofjointf
amil
y.I
fhei
mproper
lyexcl
udesanymemberfr
om
mai
ntenance,hecanbesuedf
ormaint
enanceandalsoar
rear
sof
mai
ntenance.

2)Li
abi
li
tyt
orenderaccount
s:-
Asl
ongasf
ami
l
yremai
nsj
oint
,
Kartaisnotsupposedtokeepaccounts,butwhenparti
tiontakesplaceat
thatti
mehei sli
ablet
oaccountforfamil
ypr oper
ty.I
fanyoft hecoparcener
i
snotsat i
sfi
edwithhisaccountcaninst
itut
easuitagainstKartato
discovert
hetrut
handt oknowanymi sappropri
ati
onismadebyKar ta.

3)Li
abi
li
tyt
orecov
erdebt
sduet
othef
ami
ly
:-Kar
tasshoul
d
real
izeall
debtsduet
othefami
lywi
thi
nreasonabl
eti
mebutshoul
dnot
all
owt hem t
obarbyl
imit
ati
on.

4)Li
abi
li
tyt
ospendr
easonabl
y:
-AsKar
taofj
ointf
ami
l
yhas
contr
olovertheincomeandexpendit
ureoft
hef
amily
,heiscustodi
anof
surpl
usincome.Howev erheshoul
dspendfami
l
yfundsreasonabl
yandf
or
thepurposeofthefamil
y.

5)Li
abi
li
tynott
oal
ienat
ecopar
cenar
ypr
oper
ty:
-Unl
essi
tis
f
orbenef
itoff
ami
ly,est
ateorfornecessi
tyKar
tacannotal
ienat
ejoi
nt
f
amil
ypropert
ywi
thouttheconsentofall
thecopar
ceners.

6)Li
abl
enott
ost
artnewbusi
ness:
-Unl
essadul
tcopar
cener
s
oft
hef
ami
l
yexpr
essl
yori
mpl
i
edl
yconsent
s,Kar
tacannoti
mpo.
CONCLUSI
ON
Asal readyment i
oned, t
hekar tainaHi nduj ointfami lyholdsquiteanex tra-
ordinaryposi t
ionwi t
hr efer
encet oi tsunder standingandcompl exi
ty.This
suigener isnatureoft hesy st
em hol dsani mpor t
antposi ti
onin
under standi
nghowaj ointfamilyf unct
ionswi threferencetothenumer ous
dutiesandv ar
iedwor kst heindividualmember sofaf amil
yareinvol
v ed,
beingcl ubbedt ogetheri nasi nglehousehol d.TheconceptofKar tahasan
ori
gi nthatdatescent uriesbackandi tstil
lhol dsitsgr ounddueitsvarious
functionalelement s.Onef ami l
ythatent ail
sano.ofmember swholive
togetherandhol djointpr operty,necessar i
l
yr equi r
eaKar t
atoboostt he
cohesi veaspectofsuchaf amilywi threferencet oi t
sdealingsand
ventures.

Thei deaofakartahasbeendil
utedinpr
esenttimestomaintain
reasonabil
it
yinthedeci
sionsandjudgment
st hatakar
tabindsthejoint
familyto.Therearenoabsol
utepowersasthatoftheprev
ious“patri
arch”
asv ari
ouslegalremedi
esareavail
abl
eandthus,themanagerialsy
stem of
havingacent r
alheadworksinvari
edmanneri
sms.
REFERENCE
 Par
asDiwan,
Famil
yLaw(
2ndEdn.Or
ientPubl
ishi
ng
Company,
2002)

 www.
lawct
opus.
com

 bl
og.
ipl
eader
s.i
n