In Brief
A son filed a suit claiming he was the real owner of property purchased with his own funds in his aged father's name, and sought cancellation of a sale deed to a third party. The trial court and High Court rejected the plaint under an application to dismiss (Order VII Rule 11 CPC), holding that the suit was barred by Section 4 of the Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Act, 1988, which forbids suits by alleged real owners of property held in another's name. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, holding that whether the exception under Section 4(3)—for property held in fiduciary capacity—applied required examination of evidence and full trial, not summary dismissal at the application stage. The matter was remitted for trial on merits.
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