POA used to gift friend's property to son; owner wins

A recent ruling by the Gujarat High Court has confirmed that a general Power of Attorney (POA) holder cannot gift a house to their son and daughter-in-law after the death of the property owner's wife. The case involved Mr Purshotam Ranchhodbhai Pankhania, a businessman from Vadodara, Gujarat, who owned a property in Sayajigunj. After moving to London, Pankhania's wife signed a POA in favor of his close friend, Mr Patel, granting him the authority to manage the property.

Sadly, Pankhania's wife passed away shortly after signing the POA, in July 2010. Even though Pankhania did not request the return of the POA, Patel continued to hold it and later, in January 2011, signed a gift deed transferring the property to his own son and daughter-in-law. The transfer was later challenged in the Vadodara civil court by Pankhania, who argued that Patel did not have the authority to execute the gift deed.

The case went all the way to the Gujarat High Court, which ultimately ruled in favor of Pankhania. The court dismissed Patel's appeal and ordered the return of the property to him, stating that the gift deed was void ab initio. The court emphasized that the POA granted to Patel did not authorize him to gift the property to his son and daughter-in-law, and that the act of transferring the property was unauthorized and violated the terms of the Power of Attorney.