Declaratory suit on marital status survives to legal representatives; civil court jurisdiction remains available absent express statutory bar.

A suit for declaration of marital status under Section 34 of the Specific Relief Act survives to the deceased plaintiff's legal representative because it concerns legal character and not a purely personal matrimonial remedy. The action is distinct from petitions for nullity, dissolution, restitution of conjugal rights, or judicial separation, and the principle that personal causes of action die with the person does not apply where status or related proprietary interests are in issue. The civil court's jurisdiction is not barred by the Family Courts Act, 1984, because Sections 7 and 8 do not expressly or by necessary implication exclude such declaratory suits.

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Issues: (i) Whether a suit framed under Section 34 of the Specific Relief Act, 1963 seeking a declaration as to marital status can be continued by the legal representative of a deceased plaintiff. (ii) Whether the jurisdiction of the civil court is barred by the Family Courts Act, 1984 in respect of such a suit.

Issue (i): Whether a suit framed under Section 34 of the Specific Relief Act, 1963 seeking a declaration as to marital status can be continued by the legal representative of a deceased plaintiff.

Analysis: A suit for declaration of legal character is distinct from a matrimonial petition for annulment, dissolution, restitution of conjugal rights, or judicial separation. The relief claimed was declaratory in nature and related to status, not a personal matrimonial remedy that would necessarily perish on the plaintiff's death. The principle that only personal causes of action die with the person does not extend to disputes affecting proprietary rights or socio-legal status.

Conclusion: Yes. The suit could be continued by the legal representative of the deceased plaintiff.

Issue (ii): Whether the jurisdiction of the civil court is barred by the Family Courts Act, 1984 in respect of such a suit.

Analysis: The jurisdictional bar in Sections 7 and 8 of the Family Courts Act, 1984 applies to matrimonial proceedings of the kind specifically referred to there, such as nullity, restitution, judicial separation, and dissolution of marriage. It does not extend to a civil suit under Section 34 of the Specific Relief Act, 1963 seeking a declaration regarding legal status. Exclusion of civil jurisdiction is not to be readily inferred, and no express or implied bar was made out.

Conclusion: No. The civil court's jurisdiction was not barred.

Final Conclusion: A declaratory suit concerning marital status was held maintainable at the instance of the deceased plaintiff's legal representative, and the civil court was found competent to decide it.

Ratio Decidendi: A civil suit for declaration of legal character, including matrimonial status, survives to a legal representative where the cause is not purely personal, and civil jurisdiction is not excluded unless the statute expressly or by necessary implication bars such a declaratory action.

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