BACHAN SINGH Vs. NAND KAUR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a plaintiff's appeal against a judgment and decree of Mr. Bedi, District Judge, Ludhiana, affirming the decree of the trial Court in which it was held that a sonless widow has a right to succeed equally with her step son to the estate of the husband and has also the right to share in collateral succession with her step son.

(2.) Teja Singh, the husband, died and his land was mutated in favour of his son Bachan. Singh, the plaintiff, and his widow Nand Kaur in equal shares. Waryam Singh, a collateral of Teja Singh, then died and his estate was also mutated equally in the names of Bachan Singh and Nand Kaur. Nand Kaur then made an application for partition of the property. Thereupon the plaintiff brought a suit for declaration to the effect that he was the sole owner in possession of the land in dispute and that the defendant had no right whatsoever and that the entries in the revenue records had been wrongly made and Nand Kaur was not entitled to get partition of the land. On both these points the trial Court and the first appellate Court have held in favour of the widow. -

(3.) According to para. 16 of Rattigan's Digest of Customary Law which contains the general custom in regard to these cases in the presence of a male descendant of the deceased his widow is ordinarily entitled to suitable maintenance whether such descendant is the son of the widow or by another wife. But in Ludhiana there is a special custom in regard to the rights of sonless widows which is contained in answer to question No. 32 of the Riwaj-i-am of the district. There it is stated that a widow with sons take no share, hut a sonless widow in the presence of sons takes a share equal to that of each of the sons though she is sometimes content with less. This shows that if the widow is sonless, she has the right to succeed to her husband's estate equally with the son or sons. In my opinion, both the Courts below have rightly held that the widow has the right to succeed to her husband's estate along with the son by another wife.