AZIMA BIBI Vs. MUNSHI SHAMALANAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal was heard ex parte.

(2.) The appellants are the female members of a Mahommedan family which in matters of worship have adopted the Hindu religion. There is no evidence that there is any custom in the family by which the Mahommedan law in regard to the descent of property has been altered or varied.

(3.) The respondent is a pleader of some standing. He took a mortgage of ancestral property from the male members of the family. He was under the impression that the Hindu law of descent prevailed in the family, and that the female members had no proprietary interest. He made no inquiry of any of the female members or of their husbands. They were purdahnashin ladies and naturally left the management of the property in the hands of the males.