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FORUM

Do them all for a comfortable existence

OVERALL PICTURE: Construction, legalities or interior designing … every aspect of a house has to be in order.

PropertyPlus has been receiving several letters from the public seeking professional help/advice. The letters, in quest of vaasthu recommendations, legal opinions, architect and interior decorator’s advice, financial implications and engineering suggestions, will be answered in our column ‘Forum’ in a question-and-answer format once a month.

This new column, that brings experts together, will take up questions that will at once address several common problems prevalent in a broader perspective. Questions could be emailed to bangprop erty@thehindu.co.in

Our panellists for this edition are Niranjan Babu, vaasthu consultant (son of astrologer B.V. Raman, and CEO and publisher of The Astrological Magazine); C.H. Gopinatha Rao (architect and former president, Institution of Valuers, and former ly Chairman, Institution of Engineers, Tamil Nadu State Centre); N.C.S. Raghavan (Chartered Accountant, author of several books and articles) and Arvind Raghavan (Solicitor and author of several books and articles). In the coming editions, queries on financial aspects could be addressed to our expert K. Sukumaran, former Chief General Manager, State Bank of Mysore.

Question: My son’s flat has a kitchen in its southwest and the burner is placed on the platform in the south. It is said that the kitchen should be in the south-east which is not possible in the flat. Can a pooja offset the ill-e ffects of the wrong positioning of the kitchen?

R. Rajanarayan, L.B. Shastri Nagar.

Generally a kitchen should be in the south-east based on the fact that the morning healing energies of the sun are very much required by the women of the house who spend long hours in the kitchen. The orientation of the cooking facing east was also advised for this reason. The south-east is also the right position for the primary element, fire. Based on the limited choice we have with respect to flats, I suggest that within the kitchen itself, you can activate the fire element in its south-east, making use of your grinder, mixer or microwave oven on the eastern side of the kitchen. As a general rule, avoid activating the fire element either in the south-west or north-east of an area.

Question: I have a 1450 sq ft two-bedroom flat near Cambridge Layout. Ours is a small eight-house apartment with four blocks of two each. My first floor flat entrance faces east proper.

Instead of having three bedrooms, I wanted to have that space utilised in a better manner. So, I modified my entrance to include a sit-out (10 x 8) with grill resting on half of the entry side wall, attached with a grill door. Eight feet away is the main entrance door again facing east leading to a drawing room with south-east kitchen and my master-bedroom on the south-west.

I want to know if this arrangement — apart from being nature friendly — is against vaasthu. The morning rays of the sun fill that place when I have my cuppa with a newspaper.

I have included some greenery amidst a cane sofa set to entertain people who don’t need to get inside the house.

One of my friends told me that instead of a sit-out, I could have gone in for a centre-open courtyard as I could have taken advantage of the fact that there is just a ground floor and a first floor (my house). He was of the opinion that the open space could have been created in the middle of the house as it falls on the belly of vaasthu purusha. This is what got me thinking.

My son had a bout of tummy problems and underwent protracted tests but it turned out to be just acidity. Your answer will help me get rid of the confusion.

Radhika Menon
Finance Analyst, Ulsoor

The ancient science of vaasthu should be adapted to the modern conditions of living. These days a grill is placed normally for security reasons. Therefore having a grill-covered sit-out in the east is in order. In fact the healthy morning energies of the east, as you sip your cup of coffee, will indeed contribute to your (and your family members’) health. Minor health problems like acidity, cough, cold and headache should not be related to vaasthu imbalances. The central courtyards of yesteryear served two purposes — they allowed warm air to escape and kept the surrounding rooms cool. They also contributed to harmony in the family.

Question: A reading of the article ‘Transfer of property and its value’ by Gopinatha Rao, (PropertyPlus dated April 7) gives an impression that to succeed to the estate of a deceased, one needs either a succession certifica te or a probate in case a Will has been executed by the deceased.

A careful reading of the Indian Succession Act reveals that they may not be required to succeed to the estate, more so with respect to immovable property.

The concern of the probate court is only to decide whether the testator has executed the Will when he is in a sound state of mind, without any coercion or undue influence. The probate court has no jurisdiction to go into the title of the property or determine the rights of the parties. Vesting takes place immediately after the death, and it will not wait for succession certificate or probate. However, probate may be required to establish a right in the court of law, not otherwise. It may not be advisable to suggest that by executing a settlement deed, one can avoid payment of stamp duty.

The moment the settlement is executed, the settler will lose all his control over the property, it cannot be revoked, and he will have to face the music of losing his right during his lifetime and be under the mercy of the settlee.

V.S. Subba Narsu,
Advocate, Rajajinagar
Our panellist,

C.H. Gopinatha Rao, former president, Institution of
Valuers, answers:

As I understand from my advocate friends, the probate of Will is mandatory only when the immovable property is situated in the provinces of Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai and court fee is to be paid as specified.

If a person has an immovable property acquired from his own earnings, he has the right to make a Will in favour of the person he likes. If he has three sons and he feels that his property is to be enjoyed after his life only by his second son, the owner has the choice to make a Will or make settlement in favour of his second son, retaining his life interest with him and his wife if she happens to survive him, which means the son cannot enjoy the property as long as his father and mother are alive.

The problem will arise only when the son dies earlier when the son’s wife also will get a share along with his mother.

Making a settlement deed in favour of a person is not advisable in all cases. When a person dies intestate, normally the legal heir certificate issued by the Tahsildar is enough for all purposes.

However, if the prospective buyer insists on Succession Certificate, it is to be obtained from the court on payment of specified court fee.

The article is only to inform the readers of the alternative provision available by making settlement at a lower cost, wherein the provision has its limitations.

Question: I have entered into an agreement to purchase a site (in a central locality of Bangalore) from the owner and I have paid an advance amount also.

The balance amount has to be paid within six months at the time of registration of the sale deed to be executed in my favour by the owner. There are no statutory permissions or clearances required for the sale of the site.

Even after the expiry of six months, the owner has failed to execute the sale deed inspite of my constant reminders to him. Please let me know the course of action I should pursue to get the purchase of the site through a registered sale deed.

Name withheld on request

Our panellists,
N.C.S.Raghavan (Chartered Accountant) and Arvind Raghavan, Advocate, answer:

From the details given above, it appears that the owner has not acted as per the agreement entered into by him.

We presume that you have offered to pay the balance before the Sub-Registrar at the time of registration and such offers have been made in an effective way.

You have not disclosed the fact whether the owner wants to avoid the sale completely. Anyway, we presume that this can be his intention. In the circumstances, we offer our opinion as follows:

Firstly, send a registered notice to him asking him to execute the sale deed forthwith.

You also mention in the notice clearly about your readiness to make the final payment before the registration authorities at the time of registration.

It is advisable that you keep the amount in a separate bank account and give a reference to the bank account etc., in the notice, to prove the genuineness of the offer of payment of the balance.

However, as a matter of abundant caution, you can file a suit for permanent injunction in an appropriate court of law (as advised by a competent legal council of your choice under the provisions of the Specific Relief Act, 1963) to prevent the owner from selling, transferring or encumbering the property in any manner whatsoever in favour of any third party or parties.

As the permanent injunction will take time to obtain, you can apply for and obtain a temporary injunction immediately to be valid till the disposal of the permanent injunction. By this course of action, you can prevent the owner from transferring the property to a third party. Simultaneously, get a public notice duly published in English and vernacular newspapers.

If you don’t get a proper reply to your notice, you can file a suit for specific performance under the provisions of the aforesaid enactment. The court will order the owner to effect the sale of the property through a registered sale deed. To prove your bona fides, you can inform the court about the balance money kept in readiness in a specified deposit account with a bank for ensuring the payment of the balance of sale price at the time of registration.

In addition to asking for specific performance of the contract from the owner, if your have really suffered any losses or damages due to the delay in getting your relief of specific performance, you are entitled to claim damages also from the owner.

However, if you feel that the seller/owner of the property has genuine reasons for the delay, by mutual consent and agreement you can extend the time and you can have the new agreement duly registered before the Sub-Registrar. The stamp duty and registration fee payable on such a new agreement are only nominal. By this course of action, you can get the benefit of the entry in Book–I of the registration authorities which will ensure that in any encumbrance certificate taken on the property this entry will find a place.

In respect of original documents of title to the site also, you should take sufficient precaution to see that they are in safe custody. When, as indicated above, you enter into a new agreement with the owner extending the time, see to it that the original documents of title are kept in “Escrow” with a common custodian such as a bank.

Further, by going to a court with an injunction petition as above, you also get the benefit under what is called the “Legal Doctrine of Lispendens”. It means that when a suit is pending in a court of law in respect of a property, transactions, if any, carried out by the owner of the property during the pendency of the court case cannot be valid and will be subject to the final decision and outcome of the suit. In your case it is going to be in your favour only.

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