TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2010 (5) TMI 796
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....he share of her brother Muthu Reddiar, on the ground that he died unmarried and intestate and that Smt. Rengammal, the defendant No. 1 in the suit was a legally wedded wife of one Alagarsami Reddiar, who was still alive, therefore, her claim that she had live-in-relationship with plaintiff's brother Muthu Reddiar and had two children from him, had to be ignored. The defendants/respondents contested the suit denying the marriage between defendant No. 1 and the said Alagarsami Reddiar. The Trial Court decreed the suit vide Judgment and decree dated 7th March, 1977 recording the finding that Rengammal, defendant No.1 in the suit was wife of Alagarsami Reddiar who was alive at the time of filing the suit. There had been no legal separation between them. Therefore, the question of live-in-relationship of Smt. Rengammal with Muthu Reddiar could not arise. 3. Being aggrieved, the defendants therein filed the First Appeal. The respondent No. 1 herein, Vijaya Renganathan, purchased the suit property in 1978 i.e. during the pendency of the First Appeal for a sum of about Rs. 10,000/- and got himself impleaded in the appeal as a party. The First Appeal was dismissed by the Appellate Co....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....age by presumption between Smt. Rengammal and Muthu Reddiar would not arise and for determining the same all the material on record had been taken into consideration including the statement of Seethammal, DW1 along with all other defence witnesses and the documents, particularly, Exts.B14, B18, B19 and B2. 8. However, the High Court framed two substantial questions of law, namely: (a) Whether on the admitted long cohabitation of the First defendant and Muthu Reddiar, a legal presumption of a lawful wedlock is not established; and (b) Whether the specific case of prior and subsisting marriage between defendant and Alagarsami Reddiar set up by Plaintiff is established as required by law and she could have a preferential claim over defendants 1 to 3? 9. While determining the substantial question (b) the High Court only considered the statement of Seethammal, DW1, the step mother of Muthu Reddiar and did not take into consideration the evidence of plaintiff's witnesses which had been relied upon by the courts below, particularly, Kumarasamy PW2 and Kandasamy PW5 and re-appreciated the documentary evidence. Therefore, the question does arise as to whether such a cours....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....2 SCC 10, this Court held that if a decision is arrived at on no evidence or evidence which is thoroughly unreliable and no reasonable person would act upon it, the order would be perverse. But if there is some evidence on record which is acceptable and which cannot be relied upon, howsoever compendious it may be, the conclusions would not be treated as perverse and the findings would not be interfered with. In Gaya Din (dead) thr. Lrs. & Ors. Vs. Hanuman Prasad (dead) thr. Lrs. & Ors. AIR 2001 SC 386, it has been held that order of an authority is perverse in the sense that the order is not supported by the evidence brought on record or it is against the law or it suffers from the vice of procedural irregularity. In Rajinder Kumar Kindra Vs. Delhi Administration, thr. Secretary (Labour) & Ors. AIR 1984 SC 1805, this Court while dealing with a case of disciplinary proceedings against an employee considered the issue and held as under: "17. It is equally well-settled that where a quasi- judicial tribunal or arbitrator records findings based on no legal evidence and the findings are either his ipse dixit or based on conjectures and surmises, the enquiry suffers from the additional....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....Seethammal, DW1, step mother of Muthu Reddiar who had been disbelieved by the Courts below by giving cogent reasons and taking note of the fact that she had arranged their marriage spending a sum of Rs. 10 only. The High Court has also reappreciated the documentary evidence and took a view contrary to the view taken by the court's below. It was not appropriate for the High Court to re-appreciate the evidence in Second Appeal as no substantial question of law involved therein. Both the Courts below found that Rengammal was legally wedded wife of Alagarsami. The Courts below had placed very heavy reliance upon the witnesses examined by the appellant/plaintiff particularly, Kumarasamy- PW 2 and Kandasamy- PW 5. 18. In view of the fact that the High Court did not even take note of the deposition of the plaintiff's witnesses, findings recorded by the High Court itself become perverse and thus liable to be set aside. 19. Be that as it may, Section 5(1) of the Act lays down conditions for a Hindu marriage. It provides that marriage may be solemnized between any two Hindus if neither of them is a spouse living at the time of marriage. Section 11 provides that any marriage whi....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....tion 16 of the Act is not ultra vires of the Constitution of India. In view of the legal fiction contained in Section 16, the illegitimate children, for all practical purposes, including succession to the properties of their parents, have to be treated as legitimate. They cannot, however, succeed to the properties of any other relation on the basis of this rule, which in its operation, is limited to the properties of the parents. 24. In Rameshwari Devi Vs. State of Bihar & Ors. AIR 2000 SC 735, this Court dealt with a case wherein after the death of a Government employee, children born illegitimately by the woman, who had been living with the said employee, claimed the share in pension/gratuity and other death-cum-retiral benefits along with children born out of a legal wedlock. This Court held that under Section 16 of the Act, children of void marriage are legitimate. As the employee, a Hindu, died intestate, the children of the deceased employee born out of void marriage were entitled to share in the family pension, death-cum-retiral benefits and gratuity. 25. In Jinia Keotin & Ors. Vs. Kumar Sitaram Manjhi & Ors. (2003) 1 SCC 730, this Court held that while engrafting a ru....