Shareholders seeking to sell property can’t buy shares of other shareholders

The shareholder prefers the sale of the property as per section 2 of the Partition Act, and cannot buy the shares of other shareholders, the Karnataka high court has held in a recent judgment.

Dismissing the petition filed by Mukunda Rao and Venkatesh Rao, Justice Sreenivas Harish Kumar has pointed out that when the petitioners have rather preferred sale are precluded from exercising their right under section 3 of the Act when the respondents are ready to buy the shares of the petitioners at the valuation made by the court.

A property in Bhadravathi town in Shivamogga district was put on spot sale In In April 2006. At the spot sale, the highest bidder was Ramachandra Rao, the original judgment debtor, for Rs 12,05,000. Thereafter, in the court sale proceedings, one Mujeeb offered Rs 12.1 lakh and paid the same. The legal representatives of Ramachandra Rao then challenged the said sale and the high court directed the trial court to proceed in terms of the provisions of the Partition Act.