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A husband cannot assert exclusive ownership over a property jointly acquired and registered in the name of both spouses, solely on the basis that he paid the EMIs, the Delhi High Court has held. A bench of justices Anil Kshetarpal and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar made the observation on September 22. "Once the property stands in the joint names of the spouses, the husband cannot be permitted to claim exclusive ownership merely on the ground that he alone provided the purchase consideration," the court said. It said the husband's claim would contravene Section 4 of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, which bars a person, claiming to be the real owner of the property, from instituting any suit, claim or action to enforce rights against any other person in whose name the property stands. In her petition before the high court, the wife also claimed that 50 per cent of the surplus amount belonged to her, asserting that it formed part of her stridhan (a woman's absolute a
As many as 45 cities out of 50 registered an increase in property prices during the first quarter of 2025-26, according to data released by the National Housing Bank (NHB). "Out of the 50 cities covered, 5 cities registered a decline in the property prices on an annual basis. Howrah registered the maximum decline of 6.1 per cent followed by Kochi (5.5 per cent) and Thiruvananthapuram (4.8 per cent)," the latest residential housing price index NHB RESIDEX released on Thursday said. The 50-city Housing Price Index (HPI), based on valuation prices of properties collected from banks and housing finance companies, recorded an annual increase of 5.7 per cent during the first quarter of the current fiscal compared to 6.6 per cent a year ago, it added. Seven key primary residential markets witnessed an appreciation in property prices during April-June 2025, it said. Primary residential properties in Ahmedabad witnessed an increase of 6.8 per cent while those in Bengaluru rose by 9.1 per ce
Uttar Pradesh will introduce QR code-based verification of property ownership, integrate land registry data with revenue department records for instant title updates, and simplify rent agreements with minimal stamp duty, Minister Ravindra Jaiswal has said. In an interview with PTI, MoS (Independent Charge) for Stamp and Court Fee, Registration, said the reforms are part of the state's ambitious Vision 2047 plan, with some of the initiatives expected to roll out by March 2026. Currently, it takes 35-40 days after registration for the buyer's name to reflect in revenue records. Soon, revenue officials will be posted at registration offices to verify records before a transaction is finalised. The buyer's name will be updated immediately after registration, giving them instant ownership rights, he said. Jaiswal, a BJP MLA from Varanasi, said another major initiative aims to encourage property owners to formalise tenancy agreements by reducing high stamp duty charges. "Many landlords ..
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday launched multiple searches in Gujarat as part of a money laundering investigation linked to alleged financial irregularities in certain Waqf properties in the state, official sources said. A case has been filed by the agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) taking cognisance of a Ahmedabad Police FIR field against one Salim Khan Jumma Khan Pathan, Mohammad Yasar Abdulhamiya Sheikh, Mehmud Khan Jumma Khan Pathan, Fezmohamad Pir Mohammad Chobdar, and Saheed Ahmad Yakubhai Sheikh. They had "illegally" claimed to be trustees of the Kanch Ki Masjid Trust and Shah Bada Kasam Trust, the agency said. About nine premises of the accused and their associates are being raided across Gujarat by the Ahmedabad zonal office of the agency, the sources said. The accused entered into "fraud" lease agreements, extorted rents from tenants, and submitted false affidavits to the Waqf Board. The ED, a federal probe agency, suspects that the accuse