https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=182507 A special family custom restricting adoption of a male child from outside the family was not proved, because a custom in derogation of general law must be ancient, certain, continuous, reasonable, and established by clear evidence. The burden of pleading and proof remained on the party asserting it, and limited past instances of intra-family adoptions did not establish a binding prohibition. A registered adoption deed, supported by evidence of giving and taking, a religious ceremony, attesting witnesses and photographs, raised a statutory presumption of valid adoption under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956. That presumption was not rebutted, so the adoption was held legally valid and the trial court's decree was restored. en-us Tue, 29 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0530 Wed, 12 Jul 2023 18:25:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=182507 A special family custom restricting adoption of a male child from outside the family was not proved, because a custom in derogation of general law must be ancient, certain, continuous, reasonable, and established by clear evidence. The burden of pleading and proof remained on the party asserting it, and limited past instances of intra-family adoptions did not establish a binding prohibition. A registered adoption deed, supported by evidence of giving and taking, a religious ceremony, attesting witnesses and photographs, raised a statutory presumption of valid adoption under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956. That presumption was not rebutted, so the adoption was held legally valid and the trial court's decree was restored. Case-Laws Indian Laws Tue, 29 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=182507