Patna, Aug 13: The Patna High Court has dismissed a woman’s appeal seeking recognition as the legally wedded wife of her deceased husband’s younger brother, holding that she failed to provide sufficient evidence to establish that a valid marriage had taken place.A division bench of Justice Rana Vikram Singh and Justice Bibek Chaudhuri passed the order on August 5 while upholding a Family Court decision that rejected the woman’s claim.
The case involved Durgawati Devi, who was married to Suresh Chaudhary, the elder brother of Sachita Chaudhary, in 1990. Suresh died in 1997.Durgawati later claimed that she married Sachita in 2002 with the consent of both families. She also alleged that she was subsequently subjected to harassment by her in-laws and forced to leave her matrimonial home.
She had approached the court earlier seeking maintenance, and a Family Court granted her Rs 1,000 per month in 2005. Sachita challenged the order, but his revision petition was dismissed by the High Court in 2007.Sachita subsequently filed a case seeking a declaration that no marriage had taken place between the two and that Durgawati was not his legally wedded wife.
The Family Court, Siwan, allowed his plea in 2020, finding that the alleged marriage had not been proved in accordance with the required Hindu rites and rituals.Durgawati challenged the decision before the High Court, but the division bench found that her evidence was insufficient.
The court noted that she had not clearly stated the date or place of the alleged marriage and had not provided details of the rituals performed during the ceremony.The witnesses produced on her behalf also failed to give consistent accounts of the alleged marriage.
The court specifically noted that none of them provided clear evidence regarding important Hindu marriage rituals such as ‘saptapadi’ and ‘sindurdaan’.The bench also found inconsistencies in the witnesses’ statements regarding the identity of the priest who allegedly conducted the ceremony.Durgawati had relied on documents, including voter-list entries, to support her claim.
However, the court noted that one voter list from 2004 described her as Sachita’s wife, while another from 2009 identified her as the wife of her first husband, Suresh.The High Court held that such voter-list entries, by themselves, could not establish the validity of a marriage. It also noted the absence of a marriage registration certificate or other corroborative evidence proving that a valid matrimonial relationship existed between Durgawati and Sachita.
The bench further clarified that the earlier maintenance proceedings did not conclusively determine the legal validity of the alleged marriage.Holding that Durgawati had failed to establish that she was Sachita’s legally wedded wife or that their alleged marriage had been solemnised according to the required Hindu rites and rituals, the High Court dismissed her appeal and upheld the Family Court’s 2020 judgment.The court also made no order as to costs.
