In Brief
The Supreme Court considered whether an unregistered family settlement memorandum (Khararunama) and receipt could be admitted as evidence in a property dispute. The appellant brothers and respondent had partitioned joint family property in 1980. Years later, the appellants claimed the respondent relinquished his share through an unregistered settlement and receipt in exchange for payments. The High Court rejected these documents as inadmissible for lack of registration. The Court held that a memorandum merely recording past family arrangements does not itself create or extinguish property rights, and thus is not compulsorily registrable. Such unregistered documents may be admitted to explain the parties' arrangements and conduct, provided they do not prove transactions requiring registration. The appeal was allowed.
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