The element of gift is traceable to both ’settlement’ and ’will’. As settled in law, the nomenclature of an instrument is immaterial and the nature of the document is to be derived from its contents. While so, a voluntary disposition can transfer the interest in praesenti and in future, in the same document. In such a case, the document would have the elements of both the settlement and will. Such document, then has to be registered and by operation of the doctrine of severability, becomes a composite document and has to be treated as both, a settlement and will and the respective rights will flow with regard to each disposition from the same document. It is pertinent to mention here that the reservation of life interest or any condition in the instrument, even if it postpones the physical delivery of possession to the donee/settlee, cannot be treated as a will, as the property had already been vested with the donee/settlee.
[Extracted from: NP Saseendran v NP Ponnamma 2025 INSC 388.]
Section 122 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 defines a gift as: 'the transfer of certain existing movable or immovable property made voluntarily and without consideration, by one person, called the donor, to another, called the donee, and accepted by or on behalf of the donee,' adding that 'such acceptance must be made during the lifetime of the donor and while he is still capable of giving.' Testing each option against this text shows which one departs from it.
Since (A), (B), and (C) restate the statute correctly and (D) contradicts it, (D) is the statement that is not a true essential of a valid gift.
So the correct answer is Option (D).
The question asks which single element is shared by all three of Gift, Settlement, and Will. The clearest way to check is to run each candidate element against each of the three transactions in turn.
Running the check transaction by transaction leaves only voluntary disposition standing up across Gift, Settlement, and Will alike.
So the correct answer is Option (C): voluntary disposition.
The stem itself supplies the test: does the interest pass immediately, in praesenti, to the transferee, or does it only take effect on the death of the person executing the document? Lining up a Will against a Settlement on exactly this test resolves the question.
Comparing the two definitions side by side, present vesting marks a Settlement and vesting deferred to death marks a Will, exactly as option (C) states.
So the correct answer is Option (C).
Sections 122 to 129 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 lay down the whole scheme for gifts, and each option in this question maps onto a specific section. Checking each against its section shows which proposition does not hold up.
Since (A), (C), and (D) each mirror their governing section correctly while (B) contradicts Section 124, (B) is the proposition that is incorrect.
So the correct answer is Option (B).
A Will is best understood by contrasting it with an inter vivos transfer such as a Gift or Settlement. That contrast is what decides which of these four propositions correctly describes why a Will is revocable.
The true reason a Will can always be revoked is that it transfers nothing while the testator lives, which is precisely what option (A) states.
So the correct answer is Option (A).