SMT. MIRA DEVI V. SMT. AMAN KUMARI AIR 1962 MADHYA PRADESH 212
FACTS
- The case involves a dispute over the inheritance of home farm lands and movables after the death of Jagdish Prasad Singh, who held the Patna Zamindari in the erstwhile State of Korea.
- Jagdish Prasad Singh’s widow, Smt. Aman Kumari (plaintiff/respondent), and the alleged widow of his son, Smt. Mira Devi (defendant/appellant), along with her sons, are contesting ownership.
- Mira Devi claims she married Gopal Saran Singh (Jagdish's son) under the Special Marriage Act, 1872, making her and her sons rightful heirs.
- The trial court held that the family was governed by Hindu Law, thus validating Smt. Mira Devi's marriage and granting her and her sons a one-third share of the property, with the remaining two-thirds belonging to Smt. Aman Kumari.
- Both parties appealed, each seeking the entire property.
- Arguments:
- Appellant (Smt. Mira Devi and Others) contended that she was legally married to Gopal Saran Singh under the Special Marriage Act, 1872, asserting that he was over 21 years old at the time. They argued that the family was governed by tribal custom, which would entitle them to a share of the property after Gopal Saran Singh's death.
- Respondent (Smt. Aman Kumari) claimed that after her husband's death, she and her son jointly inherited the property, and after her son's death, she became the sole owner. She denied the legal validity of Smt. Mira Devi's marriage to her son, arguing he was underage at the time, and maintained that her family was governed by Hindu Law, not tribal custom.
ISSUE
- Was the marriage between Gopal Saran Singh and Smt. Mira Devi valid?
- What are the inheritance rights of the parties involved?
RULE
- The maxim locus regit actum(i.e.,"the place rules the act." ) applies to the formalities of marriage. Whether the particular procedure or ceremony constitutes a valid marriage depends solely upon the law of the country where the ceremony took place.
HELD
- The court confirmed the marriage was valid, as Gopal Saran Singh was over 21 at the time and consent from his father was unnecessary.
- The court noted the inconsistency in claims regarding the Hindu status of Raj Gonds and concluded that while Raj Gonds followed Hindu customs, they were not Hindus in the complete theological sense.
- Despite this, the marriage was valid under the Special Marriage Act as per precedent from Ganeshprasad v. Damayanti.
- Ganeshprasad v. Damayanti, ILR (1946) Nag 1: (AIR 1946 Nag 60) (SB) and it was held that Section 2 does not lay down the conditions of the validity, of the marriage but merely prescribes the forms which have to be filled in by the parties. It was held that Section17 only gave a discretionary power to Court to declare the marriage "null or dissolved".
- Conflict of Laws by R.H. Graveson - "The essentials of a marriage are governed by the law of the domicile of each party at the time of marriage while the formalities are governed exclusively by the law of the place of celebration applicable to the particular type of marriage celebrated."
- The trial Court has observed that the evidence adduced by the plaintiff is insufficient to prove a custom that Gonds or Raj Gonds cannot marry outside their tribe. Thus, there was no contravention of any essential requirements of marriage in the law or custom governing the parties.
- So far as the form of the marriage is concerned, it was valid according to the place of celebration which took place in Wardha where the Special Marriage Act was in force. The marriage was thus valid as the form was according to the lex loci celebrationis and there was no prohibition in the lex domicilii against the marriage.
- Upon Gopal Saran Singh's marriage as per Sec 22 of Special Marriage Act, 1872, he was deemed severed from the joint family but Sec 23 of Special Marriage Act, 1872 provides that he is not debarred from asserting his rights as an heir, giving him a one-third share, the same as his mother and father.
- The Hindu Women's Right to Property Act, 1937, was not applicable in Korea State at the relevant time, thus the traditional Hindu law of succession applied.
- Under the Indian Succession Act, the widow and lineal descendants of the deceased exclude the mother and therefore the property left by Gopal Saran Singh would pass to the defendants in preference to the plaintiff.
- The court concluded that the plaintiff (Smt. Aman Kumari) was entitled to a one-third share of the family properties, not two-thirds as initially decreed. The defendants (Smt. Mira Devi and her sons) were entitled to the remaining two-thirds. The trial court's decree was modified accordingly, with costs to be borne as specified.
COMMETARY
- If the marriage is good by the law of the country where it is effected, it would be good all the world over, no matter whether the proceeding or ceremony would or would not constitute marriage in the country of the domicile of one or other of the spouses (Berthianme v Dastius, 1930 AC 79 (PC).
- The formal validity of marriage is to be determined by the lex locicelebrations as it stood at the time when the parties went through the ceremony of marriage. It may happen that a marriage void at the time of its celebration may become valid due to changes in the lex loci celebrationis. The essential validity is determined by the personal law of the parties (Starkowski v Attorney-General, (1953) 2 All ER 1272).