new delhi, Oct. 1 -- A husband cannot claim exclusive ownership over a property jointly acquired and registered in the name of both spouses, solely on the basis that he paid the EMIs, the Delhi High Court has ruled. A bench of justices Anil Kshetarpal and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar delivered the verdict on September 22 while dealing with the appeal filed by a wife against the family court's December 2017 order. "Once the property stands in the joint names of the spouses, the husband cannot be permitted to claim exclusive ownership merely on the ground that he alone provided the purchase consideration. Such a plea would contravene Section 4 of the Benami Act, which imposes an absolute bar against the enforcement of rights in respect of property held benami," the court said. The case stems from a marriage in 1999 that quickly unravelled. In 2005, the couple purchased a house in Mumbai in both their names. But within a year they were living apart, and the husband filed for divorce citing cruelty and desertion. The home loan went unpaid and the bank auctioned the flat. After adjusting the dues, the bank received a surplus of Rs.1.09 crore. Amid divorce proceedings, the husband sought release of the entire amount. In 2017, a family court granted his request and directed the wife to issue a no-objection certificate so he could withdraw the money. The wife challenged the order in the Delhi HC. The HC initially allowed 50% of amount to be released to husband and placed the other half in a fixed deposit. The litigation travelled up to the Supreme Court, which dismissed the wife's plea against the high court's order but left the question of ownership open for final adjudication along with the divorce case. The wife returned to the Delhi HC, this time arguing that her share amounted to stridhan. The husband countered that he had paid the entire purchase cost. Rejecting this claim, the bench ruled that joint registration creates a presumption of equal ownership....