MT KAURA DEVI Vs. MTINDRA DEVI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Mt. Indra Devi, the plaintiff-respondent, instituted the suit which has given rise to this appeal in order to obtain a declaration that she was entitled to the estate of Raghubans Puri deceased consisting of moveable and immovable property including the village of Kharkhari. She based her claim on the admitted fact that she was his daughter by his first wife, Mt. Janki, and on the allegation that there had been no valid marriage between him and the defendant-appellant, Mt. Kaura Devi, who claimed to be his widow. The learned Judge of the Court below found, in the first place, that Raghubans Puri and Mt. Kaura Devi had not gone through a form of marriage and, in the second place, that such a marriage, even if it had taken place, would have been invalid for two reasons, namely, that Raghubans Puri was insane at the time and that there could be no legal marriage between a man who was admittedly a grihasth Goshain and a woman who was admittedly a born Rajput. All the learned Judge's findings have been questioned in appeal.

(2.) In order to avoid unnecessary repetition it will be convenient, in the first place, to say something about the life of Raghubans Puri. This man was the son of Suraj or Surya Gir and was originally known as Lungi Singh. He had two brothers, Ganga Singh and Bahadur Gir and two sisters, one of whom, Mt. Ganga Dei, was the mother of Anant Bharti and the other Mt. Bel Devi. It will be necessary to refer to. these people in the course of this judgment. Raghubans Puri became the disciple of Ghanshyam Puri from whom he inherited the property in suit. At that time he took the name of Raghubans Puri. In 1917 his mind began to fail and in 1918 one Nand Gir was appointed manager of his property under the provisions of the Lunacy Act. We have on the record a copy of the deposition of Captain Reader of the Royal Army Medical Corps recorded on 21 February 1918 and a certificate issued by him on 18 February 1918. Prom these documents it appears that Raghubans Puri displayed the physical signs of general paralysis of the insane, was childish and emotional, laughed foolishly for no reason, replied irrelevantly to questions, became angry without cause and threatened to beat those who were in the room with him and with the doctor, The doctor was of opinion that he was not capable of managing his affairs and stated generally that he would not consider a man who was suffering from general paralysis of the insane to be so capable and that such a man would, at any rate, be very unreliable. Raghubans Puri's wife, Mt. Janki, died in January 1920 and Nand Gir, on 17 April of the same year. Six days later on 23 April, Bahadur Gir made an application to the District Judge that he should be appointed guardian of the lunatic. The District Judge passed an order that Raghubans Puri should be placed under medical observation and there is evidence that the Assistant Surgeon of Hardwar, where he lived, began visiting him. It is alleged, however, by the defendant-appellant that Raghubans Puri came to Kosan, her village, and married her on 6 May. This place is in the hills. The journey to it from Hardwar must be made on foot or on horseback and can be completed in the inside of a day. On 14 May Raghubans Puri was apparently back in Hardwar because Bahadur Gir made an application to the District Judge on that date complaining that he had already to spend Rs. 35 on doctor's fees and asking that the visits should be reduced to one or at most two a week.

(3.) On 14 June Anant Bharti put in an application objecting to the appointment of Bahadur Gir and asking that he himself should be made guardian and manager. He suggested that Bahadur Gir's interests were adverse to those of Raghubans Puri's minor daughter and also that he would be unlikely to enforce payment of a debt of its. 10,000 alleged to be due to the estate from Mt. Bel Devi. On 15th June, Major Hogan, Civil Surgeon at Saharanpur, gave a certificate that Raghubans Puri was suffering from general paralysis of the insane. He stated that his speech was at the time indistinct and incoherent, that he was childish and laughed without any cause, that he was very emotional when questioned about his late wife and his daughter, that his memory was much impaired, that he was restless and that he had a tottering gait and staggered in attempting to walk with closed eyes. On 21 July 1920, the District Judge passed an order declaring Raghubans Puri to be insane and appointing Anant Bharti manager of his property. On 5 August 1920, Bahadur Gir made an application that he was about to appeal against the order of the District Judge and that the property, in the meanwhile, should not be delivered to Anant Bharti to whose presence in the house Raghubans Puri objected.