Learn To Give Up Rather Than Giving Into Litigation: Bombay High Court Suggests Litigating Siblings, Underlines Importance Of Relationships

"Siblings should learn to give up than to give into litigation" advised the Bombay High Court recently while suggesting a senior citizen brother and sister duo to amicably settle their dispute over their parents' property.

Single-judge Justice Jitendra Jain while taking note of the use of 'abusive language' by the brother-sister in their pleadings in a defamation suit, emphasised the importance of 'Raksha Bandhan' and 'Bhaubeej' in our country. 

"The facts of the present proceedings reminds this Court about two festivals of our country viz., 'Raksha Bandhan and Bhaubeej.' The significance of these two festivals in our country is a reflection of the eternal bond between brothers and sisters, a heartfelt celebration of love, support, trust and protection between siblings. The reason why these festivals are celebrated in our country is to ensure both siblings would stand with each other in good and bad times whenever anyone requires the other. It is a bonding of moral support which makes this relationship very special," the judge observed in the order passed on December 19.

However, nowadays, sadly, siblings don't stand together but against each other in court of law, the judge bemoaned.

In his 8-page order, Justice Jain explained the 'beautiful' relationship of a brother and sister. The judge said, "During life's highs and lows, joys and sorrows or when a storm blows, a sister does not fear for she knows that standing by her is her brother, who will protect her from every wrong. He is her shield, her strength, her weakness.... Likewise, a brother knows his sister like his own mind, knowing that there will never be anyone as trusting and kind. Having a sister is like holding a mirror to one's soul, seeing you for who you are, understanding your silence. The beauty of this loving bond is that even when they are miles apart, they are always close at heart."

The bench was dealing with an appeal from a City Civil Court's order filed by a sister, in a defamation suit, wherein her plea to file written statements was dismissed by the Civil Court. 

The judge noted that in the pleadings before him also, the parties used very objectionable and abusive language. 

Speaking about the case, Justice Jain said, "This is again an instance of a very sorry state of affairs, where two siblings brother and sister, very religious by nature are litigating for properties of their parents. The animosity between the siblings have reached a stage that the words used in the complaint made by one party against another are highly objectionable and fails to reflect the religious orientation of the parties. I am not reproducing these words in the present order for obvious reasons. It is with great sadness that this Court has to observe that people who are senior citizens or who are about to reach that age and who have experience of life so closely and religiously have used these words."

The judge noted that the City Civil Court erred in passing the impugned order disallowing the sister to file her written statements only because there was a 'confusion' about the appearance of an advocate on behalf of the sister. The City Civil Court therefore, opined that since her lawyer appeared, the sister was aware of the proceedings and thus cannot now claim that she was unaware of the suit and thus refused to grant her an opportunity to file her written statements. 

Justice Jain underlined the fact that siblings now a days have been indulging into litigation, disputes etc forgetting the 'noble' relationships.

"The relationship of a brother and sister is so noble and precious where one sibling will go any lengths to protect the other but in today's day and age, this special bond is fraught with disputes, emotional tension or unresolved conflict. The root cause of this broken sibling relationship can be attributed to greed, ego and desire of a materialistic life than to crave for life with peace and harmony. Siblings should learn to give up then to give into litigation," the judge observed. 

While suggesting the parties to amicably resolve their dispute and restore peace and harmony in their relationship, Justice Jain remarked, "After all the bond between a brother and sister is sometimes tightly woven, sometimes loosely held but never broken."