AISHA BEGUM Vs. MTKUNDAN JAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an application for leave to appeal to His Majesty in Council, purporting to be one under Section 109(a) read with Order 45, Rule 3, Civil P.C. The following pedigree will be helpful:

(2.) On 27 July 1938 Aisha Begam brought a suit in the Court of the Civil Judge of Moradabad, suit No. 36 of 1938, against (1) Kundan Jan, (2) Dalip Singh alias Nooruddin Ahmad, (3) Hari Singh, (4) Mt. Jasbali, (5) Mt. Ganga, (6) Mt. Panna, (7) Mt. Hira and (8) Partap Singh for possession of property, both moveable and immovable, and laid the claim at Rs. 15,676-2-6, on the allegation that the property belonged to her father, Nawab Naqiuddin Ahmad Khan and that she was after the death of her sister, Mt. Halimunnissa, her father's sole surviving daughter and heiress. Her case, as disclosed in the plaint, was that her mother, Mt. Kundan Jan, was a prostitute and married her father in the year 1899, after which she embraced Islam and assumed the name of Rafiqa Begam. After this marriage only two children were born of her, she herself and her deceased sister. Dalip Singh was born to her before her marriage with her father and assumed the name of Nooruddin only after this marriage.

(3.) She was, the plaint further proceeded, married to one Nawab Shaukat Ali Khan, who died on 21 May 1924 and after the death of her father on 17th November 1924, her mother's brother, Sher Singh, with his daughters and others, began to live with her and under their influence she went back to a life of shame. It was principally on these allegations that she based her claim for recovery of the property in dispute and also for the cancellation of a sale deed alleged to have been executed by her on 28 June 1931, under undue influence. The defence of Nooruddin Ahmad in the main, was that he was the result of the union of Nawab Naqiuddin Ahmad Khan and Mt. Eafiqa Begum and was never known as Dalip Singh. The learned Civil Judge, Mr. Ryazul Hasan, held that Nawab Naqiuddin Ahmad Khan was not the father of Nooruddin Ahmad, but that he was born when his mother was leading a life of infamy and decreed the suit. Against the above decree the defendant came in appeal, P.A. No. 33 of 1940 to the High Court and valued the appeal at a sum of Rs. 10,325. This appeal was substantially allowed on 29 January 1945. See . This Court held that Nooruddin was the son of Nawab Naqiuddin. Leave to appeal to His Majesty in Council against this judgment has been granted.