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Rathnamma & Ors. v. Sujathamma & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2019 INSC 1255Decided 15 Nov 2019
Civil Appeal No. 3050 of 2010
Justice L. Nageswara Rao · Justice Hemant Gupta

Background

The plaintiff claimed she was the lawfully wedded wife of a man (now deceased) from a Hindu joint family, and on that basis sued for a share of her father-in-law's ancestral property in a partition suit. The defendants (other family members) denied the marriage ever took place, alleging the plaintiff was underage at the time and that her father had engineered the claim. The First Appellate Court and the High Court both ruled in the plaintiff's favour, accepting that the marriage had occurred, relying partly on a registered "agreement of marriage" and a photograph, even though no customary marriage ceremonies were proved.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the lower courts erred in treating the defendants' denial of the marriage as somehow shifting or waiving the plaintiff's burden to affirmatively prove it: under Sections 101-103 of the Evidence Act, the burden always remained on the plaintiff. The Court found that the registered "agreement of marriage" was not a marriage certificate and did not substitute for proof of the actual customary ceremonies (such as saptapadi) required under Section 7 of the Hindu Marriage Act. No evidence of such ceremonies, nor of any custom permitting the parties' relationship (which was within a prohibited degree), was produced. Since the plaintiff failed to discharge her burden of proving a valid marriage, she could not claim a share in the deceased's estate as his widow. The Court allowed the appeal and restored the trial court's original decree (which had rejected her claim).

Lesson Learnt

Registering an "agreement to marry" or having a photograph together is not legal proof of marriage: to claim inheritance rights as a spouse under Hindu law, a person must actually prove that recognised marriage ceremonies (or a valid custom permitting the union) took place; merely because the other side denies the marriage does not relieve the claimant of this burden of proof.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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