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1927 Supreme(Lah) 77
Lahore High Court
Harrison, J.
Sodagar - Appellant
Versus
Emperor - Respondent
Decided On : 25-11-1927
JUDGMENT
Harrison, J. - Sodagar has been convicted under Section 498 of enticing and retaining Mt. Jawali, who is said to be the wife of one Sawan Ram. The question raised on revision is that the parties being Aroras no valid marriage could have taken place by chadar andazi or any other form of ceremony between this man Sawan Ram and Jawali. The relationship is that Sawan Ram is the sister's son of the deceased husband of Mt. Jawali. There is the evidence of the two witnesses to the effect that such a marriage is valid, one a Mahomedan and the other a Brahmin, who stated in the widest possible terms that Hindus can marry their maternal aunts--a proposition which is not supported even by counsel for the complainant. The position, therefore, is that if the parties are governed by Hindu law, and the presumption is that Aroras are so governed, the marriage was no marriage. Further if it was performed at all, it was performed by the chadar andazi ceremony which, I understand from both sides, is not recognized by the strict Hindu law. The only possibility, therefore, is that, although Aroras as a whole are governed by Hindu law, the members of the particular family are governed by the agricultural custom of the people amongst whom they live, a fact which would only be established by clear and convincing evidence. There is none. The case must, therefore, fail as the first essential has not been proved, I accept the application for revision and acquit the accused.
