Civil Law II

Civil Law Paper – II (2000)
Time : Three Hours                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Maximum Marks : 200

Attempt any FIVE questions, selecting at least TWO questions from Part I and ONE each from Part II and III.  All questions carry equal marks.

Part-I

Q.1.  Discuss the legal status and consequences of the following marriage under Hindu Law:
a)  C's marriage to her mother's sister's son's son P.
b)  A, a Hindu boy aged 18, marries B, a Buddhist girl aged 14, according to Jain rites and ceremonies.
c)  H marries W, the divorced wife of his step son.
d)  A marries B, the husband of her deceased sister.
Q.2  (a)  At the time of the marriage between two Hindus, the husband, H and wife W, were gainfully employed in Delhi.  After the marriage, certain misunderstanding appears to have broken out between them, whereupon H got himself transferred to Jaipur and W remained in Delhi.  H files a petition against W for restitution of conjugal rights.  The defence of W is that:
i)  H himself got transferred and even now he can come back to Delhi, and
ii)  in view of her ill-treatment by H, she does not want to leave the job.
(b)    A, a Hindu wife, filed a suit for restitution of conjugal rights against her husband, H.  Decree was granted by the Court.  A refused to come back to H's house and after one year filed a petition for divorce under Section 13(1A)(ii) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.  H pleaded it is A who is responsible for non-resumption of cohabitation and by filing a petition for divorce, she is taking advantage of her own wrong.  Decide.
Q.3.  (a)  Ramesh and Rani filed a joint petition praying for a decree of divorce on ground of mutual consent within six months of the solemnization of their marriage.  One year later, second motion was filed by Ramesh alone as Rani refused to join him.  Ramesh pleaded that Rani cannot withdraw the consent once given by her.  Rani argued that the original petition was premature.  Decide and write a judgment.
(b)  Ramesh and Rani, married for over one year, had a heated argument over whether Ramesh's mother should live with them or not.  During the arguments while Ramesh advanced towards Rani, she pushed him away.  Ramesh lost his temper and slapped Rani on the face with full force.  Rani staggered and fell on the floor.  Her cheek hade red marks which subsided after sometime.  She packed her bags and went to her parents house.  From there, she filed a petition for divorce on the ground of cruelty.  Ramesh pleaded that it was she who made him lose his temper; even otherwise it was a single act of anger and he still loved her and wanted to live with her.
Write a judgment deciding the case.
Q.4.  X, a Hindu male, married Y, a Hindu female by concealing the fact of his impotency.  The marriage between the parties remains unconsummated due to the impotency on the part of X.  Y, concealing the fact of her previous marriage, married H.  H on coming to know the truth, filed a petition under Section 11 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.  Will he succeed?
Q.5  (a)  N, the karta of a Hindu Joint Family, gifted a small portion of Zamindari land, belonging to the joint family to a stranger as reward for saving the life of N's daughter.  Other coparceners challenged the alienation being without legal necessity.  Decide giving reasons.
(b)  A and his sons, B and C constitute a Mitakshara Coparcenary.  B separates himself after getting 1/3rd share of the coparcenary property.  A dies intestate leaving behind his surviving daughter D and sons B and C.
Examine the claims of D, B and C to the property (coparcenary and self acquired) left by A.

Part-II

Q.6  (a)  A, a Sunni Muslim, bequeaths one-third of his estate to B, one-fourth to C, and one-fifth to D.  A's heirs refuse to give their consent to the bequest.  How will this refusal affect the rights accruing to B, C and D from the bequest?  Would it make any difference if the family had been governed by the Shia Law?
(b)  C, a Muslim, executed a deed of gift of a house in favour of D.  At the time of the gift, the house was in possession of A who claimed it adversely to C.  D sues A to recover possession of the house as done and joins C also as defendant.  C in his written statement admits claim of D.  A contends that the gift is void since C had no possession of the house at the date of the gift and no possession was ever given to D.  Decide.
Q.7  (a)  M married H, who was undergoing iddat.  On the death of M after three years of marriage, H claimed a share in his property according to Muslim Law.  Other heirs resisted the claim on the plea that the marriage was void.  decide giving reasons.
(b)  A married his wife's younger sister B during the lifetime of his wife.  Is the marriage valid under Shia and Sunni Law?
(c)  A entered into an agreement with her husband B by which the husband authorized the wife to divorce herself from him in the event of his marrying a second wife without her consent.  Is the agreement valid under Muslim Law?  Give reason.
Q.8  (a)  A, a Muslim wife, misbehaved with her husband, B.  B, in anger, pronounced the word Talak thrice.  Thereupon she apologized for her misbehavior.  They continued cohabitation.  A son, S, was born to them.  S was got admitted to school by B as his own son and reared up as such.
After the death of B, his brother, laid exclusive claim to his estate.  Decide the suit.  Defences raised are that Talak was revoked and that the paternity of son was acknowledged by B.
(b)    Rahim married Shah Bano in 1994.  Not finding herself able to adjust with the mother of Rahim, Shah Bano advised him to take a house on rent.  Rahim refused to leave the aged parents alone.  Shah Bano leaves the matrimonial home in 1996 and goes to her parental home as she did not want to live with her in-laws.  She neither asked for any maintenance allowance nor did Rahim send any amount to her for maintenance.
In 1999 Shah Bano filed a petition for divorce against Rahim on the ground of cruelty and non-payment of maintenance for a period of two years.  Decide and write a judgment.

Part-III

Q.9  (a)  "Law of Limitation bars only remedy, and does not destroy the rights".  comment on the statement.
(b)  X files a suit against Y in the Civil Court on 16th August, 2000.  As per limitation rule the last date for filing that suit was 12th, 13th and 15th of August, 2000 were holidays.  Y takes the plea that the suit is time barred.  X pleaded that last day for filing the suit was a holiday.  Decide giving reasons.
Q.10.  A agreed to sell his house to B.  An agreement to sell was executed to this effect.  it was agreed that A shall transfer the house in the name of B and shall also hand over the possession within one month of making the full and final payment of the agreed money by B.  B made the full payment on 1st June, 2000.  He files suit against A on 1st October,2000 for the specific performance of contract.  A contested the suit on the ground that the said agreement to sell is not registered under Section 17 of the Registration Act,  1908.  Decide.