Where one of two or more co-owners of immovable property legally competent in that behalf transfers his share of such property or any interest therein, the transferee acquires as to such share or interest, and so far as is necessary to give effect to the transfer, the transferor's right to joint possession or other common or part enjoyment of the property, and to enforce a partition of the same, but subject to the conditions and liabilities affecting, at the date of the transfer, the share or interest so transferred.
Where the transferee of a share of a dwelling-house belonging to an undivided family is not a member of the family, nothing in this section shall be deemed to entitle him to joint possession or other common or part enjoyment of the house.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 44
Section 44 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 governs transfers by one co-owner, regulating the transferee's right to joint possession and enforcing the dwelling-house exception.
Under Section 44, a stranger purchaser of a share in a family dwelling house cannot enter possession. Their sole legal remedy is to institute a suit for partition under the Partition Act, 1893, wherein the remaining family members possess a statutory pre-emptive right under Section 4 of the Partition Act to buy out the stranger's share at court valuation.