The Recitals of Legal Necessity in the Sale Deed and Its Effect:
Legal necessity to support a sale must be established by the transferee. The onus of proving legal necessity may be discharged by the transferee by demonstrating actual necessity or by showing that they made proper and bona fide inquiries about the existence of necessity and took all reasonable steps to satisfy themselves regarding it.

Recitals in a sale deed concerning legal necessity do not, per se, prove legal necessity; however, the recitals may be used to corroborate other evidence of the existence of legal necessity.

Legal necessity does not imply actual compulsion; rather, it refers to pressure on the estate that, in law, may be regarded as serious and sufficient.

The onus of proving legal necessity may be discharged by the alienee through evidence of actual necessity or by proof that they made bona fide and proper inquiries about the existence of necessity, taking all reasonable steps to satisfy themselves regarding it.

Recitals in a deed concerning legal necessity do not, by themselves, prove legal necessity. However, these recitals are admissible in evidence, with their value varying according to the circumstances surrounding the transaction.

The recitals may be used to corroborate other evidence of the existence of legal necessity.

The weight attributed to the recitals varies based on the circumstances. When evidence that could be presented to the Court and is within the special knowledge of the party seeking to set aside the sale is withheld, such evidence being normally unavailable to the alienee, the recitals lend greater support. In appropriate cases, the Court may be justified in drawing an inference against the party seeking to set aside the sale on the grounds of the absence of legal necessity, wholly or partially, if they withhold evidence in their possession.¹

The law on this question is now well-settled: those who deal with a person having only a limited interest in the property are obligated to establish facts that authorize such a disposition by the limited interest holder. Therefore, the burden was on the defendants to prove that the widow had the necessary legal necessity for executing the three sale deeds through independent and reliable evidence. While recitals regarding the existence of legal necessity are admissible in evidence, they do not, by themselves, constitute evidence of this fact. To substantiate the allegation of the existence of necessity, there must be some evidence aliunde since the alienee, in order to purchase the interest, may obtain false recitals made in the document itself.

Courts are not inclined to infer any necessity from mere recitals in documents that have been challenged by the plaintiffs as invalid and non-binding.

It is well-settled that recitals of legal necessity in mortgages or deeds of sale executed by a father or manager are admissible in evidence but are not, by themselves, evidence of such necessity without corroboration by evidence aliunde. They may be supported by representations made by the borrower. Furthermore, the recitals are admissions of the manager and represent a need for the family, holding evidentiary value, especially when, due to the passage of time, it becomes impossible to produce other evidence.

It is true that recitals of legal necessity in a mortgage deed executed by the father or manager of a joint Hindu family are not, by themselves, evidence of such necessity without corroboration by evidence aliunde. Nonetheless, it is also well settled that such recitals are admissible in evidence.

• Smt. Rani v. Smt. Santa Bala Dehy
• Kiran Bala Go

Written By: S Kundu & Associates
Email: [email protected], Ph No: +9051244073