Husband cannot claim full ownership of house jointly registered with wife: Delhi HC

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has clarified that a husband cannot assert sole ownership of a property jointly registered with his wife, regardless of whether he paid the equated monthly instalments (EMIs).

A bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar, in a judgment delivered on 22 September, said such a claim would contravene the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act. Section 4 of the Act prohibits a person from filing a suit or claim as the “real owner” when the property is held in another’s name.

The case involved a Mumbai property purchased jointly by a married couple in 2005. According to the wife’s petition, the house was acquired during the marriage, and despite the husband paying the EMIs, it was jointly registered. The wife argued that her 50 per cent share amounted to her stridhan, which under Hindu law is recognised as a woman’s absolute and exclusive property.

The couple, who married in 1999, began living separately in 2006, the same year the husband filed for divorce. The court held that once the property is registered in joint names, the husband cannot later claim full ownership merely by showing he provided the funds.

The ruling upholds the wife’s legal rights and reinforces judicial precedent that property jointly acquired and registered must respect equal ownership, regardless of financial contribution.

The matter is significant in light of growing disputes involving joint property and marital separations, particularly where financial contributions are unequal but registration is joint.