New Delhi, Dec. 25: The Supreme Court has ruled that a gift to a minor is legally valid and the deed bequeathing a property or any other wealth “irrevocable” though the minor in question cannot legally accept it.

The verdict, which settled a significant aspect of the law concerning such matters, came as a division bench quashed a will of a mother bequeathing her property to her daughter years after gifting the same property to her son.

When the mother’s share of one-eighth of her father’s property was gifted to her son in September 1945, through a registered deed, the son was a minor of 16 years. In 1970, the mother executed a cancellation deed of the gift and a will bequeathing the property in favour of her daughter.

The mother died in 1982 and the siblings fought a series of legal battles that started at the civil court at Quilon, Kerala. The case reached the apex court via all the appellate courts, including Kerala High Court.

The final verdict came last week on December 18 when Justices Y.K. Sabharwal and D.M. Dharmadhikari said the deed executed in favour of the son was legally valid although there was no acknowledgement or legal acceptance of the gift as he was a minor.

The apex court set aside the judgment of the lower courts and Kerala High Court. It said the courts below were “wrong in coming to the conclusion that there was no valid acceptance of the gift by the minor”.

Justice Dharmadhikari, who wrote the verdict for the bench, said the “conclusion (that) has to follow (is) that the gift having been duly accepted in law and thus being complete, it was irrevocable under Section 126 of the Transfer of Property Act. Section 126 prohibits revocation of a validly executed gift except in circumstances mentioned therein”.

In the instant case, the judges said, the gift was executed in 1945. “It remained in force for about 25 years during which time the donee (the one given the gift) had attained majority and had not relinquished the same. It was, therefore, not competent for the donor (the one who gives the gift) to have cancelled the gift and executed a will in relation to the property.

“Where a gift is made in favour of a child of the donor, who is the guardian of the child, the acceptance of gift can be presumed to have been made by him (child) or on his (child’s) behalf without any overt act signifying acceptance by the minor. In the instant case, (the) mother who is the natural guardian gifted the property to the minor,” the judges said.