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SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

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CASE NO.:

Appeal (civil) 9469 of 1996

PETITIONER:

JAI SINGH

Vs.

RESPONDENT:

SHAKUNTALA

DATE OF JUDGMENT: 14/03/2002

BENCH:

Umesh C. Banerjee & Brijesh Kumar

JUDGMENT:

BANERJEE,J.

The matter under consideration pertains to the effect of

statutory presumption as envisaged under Section 16 of the Hindu

Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956. For convenience sake it

would be worthwhile to note the provision for its true purport.

Section 16 reads as below:

"16. Presumption as to registered documents

relating to adoption. Whenever any document

registered under any law for the time being in force is

produced before any Court purporting to record an

adoption made and is signed by the person giving and

the person taking the child in adoption, the Court shall

presume that the adoption has been made in compliance

with the provisions of this Act unless and until it is

disproved."

The Section thus envisages a statutory presumption that in

the event of there being a registered document pertaining to

adoption there would be a presumption that adoption has been

made in accordance with law. Mandate of the Statute is rather

de