Indian Kanoon - Search engine for Indian Law

To appreciate the contentions that have been raised by the parties, a brief resume of the antecedent events leading up to the passing of the disputed legislation would be necessary.

Nawab Waliuddowla, who was one of the Paigah noblemen of Hyderabad and was at one time, the President of the Executive Council of the State, died at Medina on February 22, 1935, while on a pilgrimage to Hedjaz. Besides extensive jagir properties appertaining to the Paigah which fetched him an annual income of nearly Rs. 1,36,000 he left behind him matrooka or personal estate of considerable value. As regards the surviving relations of the Nawab, who could claim rights by inheritance to his estate, it is not disputed that Ameerunnissa Begum was one of the legaly wedded wives of the Nawab and that she and the five children which the Nawab had by her are entitled to their legitimate shares in the properties left by the deceased, There is also no dispute that the Nawab went through a legal marriage with a lady named Fatima Begum who is still alive. It appears, however, that she left her husband soon after marriage and did not return to him any time thereafter. During the period, which is material for our present purpose, the only claim which she put forward against the estate of the Nawab was one for recovery of her dower debt &mounting to one lakh of rupees. The whole dispute between the parties to this litigation really centered round the point as to whether the other two ladies, namely Mahoob Begum and Kadiran Begum,who are respectively respondents I and 5 in this appeal, were, the lawfully married wives of the late Nawab or were they merely in his keeping as. kavases or permanent concubines? If there was no legal marriage between them and the Nawab, it is not disputed that their children, though admittedly begotten on them by the Nawab, would not be entitled to any share in the matrooka or personal estate left by the deceased., This dispute first arose before the Paigah Trust Committee whose duty it was to distribute the income of the Paigah estate amongst the heirs of the late Nawab. In April, 1935, shortly after Ameerunnissa Begum, who had accompanied her husband to Mecca, returned to Hyderabad after the death of the latter, the Committee addressed letters to Ameerunnissa Begum, Fatima Begum and also to Mahboob Begum enquiring about the wives and children left, by the Nawab. No letter, it seems, was sent to Kadiran Bi. On a consideration of the replies given by the several addressees and also of the statements made on their behalf at the hearings before the Committee, the latter submitted a report to the Executive Council of the Nizam. The Paigah Committee proceeded on the footing that the Nawab's marriage with Ameerunnissa Begum was beyond dispute, but as Mahboob Begum did not produce her marriage certificate even after repeated demands by the Committee, she as well as Kadiran Bi were treated as concubines. The Committee recommended that the annual income of the Paigah should be divided in the proportion of 60 to 40 amongst the legitimate and illegitimate relations of the Nawab 60% of the income was to go to Ameerunnissa Begum and her issues and the remaining 40% was to be paid to Mahboob and Kadiran as well as to their children. These recommendations were approved by the Nizam in a Firman dated 9th July, 1936.

Proceedings before the Special Commission commenced on 27th March,1939. Kadiran Bibi filed a plaint before the Commission claiming on behalf of herself and her children the identical reliefs which were claimed by Mahboob Begum and her children, and though this plaint was at first rejected by the Commission it was subsequently entertained under specific orders of the Executive Council. It appears that Fatima Bibi also lodged a plaint in respect of her Mahar against the estate of the Nawab and ,this matter was also directed to be investigated by the Commission. The enquiry before the commission was a long affair in which a large volume of evidence, both oral and documentary, was adduced. The Commission submitted the report on October 16, 1944, and their findings, in substance, were that both Mahboob Begum and Kadiran Begum were legally married wives of Waliuddowla and hence they as well as their children were entitled to have their legitimate shares in the matrooka. Fatima Begum was also held to be a legally wedded wife of the Nawab, and as such entitled to the dower claimed by her. When the report came up for consideration by the Executive Council the Members of the Council were divided in their opinion. A minority was in favour of accepting the findings of the Commission but the majority view was that further expert opinion should be taken in the matter. Eventually on the advice of the Council the Nizam directed by his Firman dated 27th August, 1945, that the report of the Special Commission should be scrutinised by an Advisory Committee consisting of three persons, namely, two Judges of the High Court and the Legal Adviser of the State. This Committee was directed to examine fully the bulky report of the Special Commission and submit their opinion with a view to assist the Executive Council in coming to their decision. They were not to take any fresh evidence or hear any further arguments from the parties. The Advisory Committee submitted their report on 24th November, 1945, and the Committee held differing from the view taken by the Special Commission that neither Mahboob Begum nor Kadiran Begum was the legally wedded wife of Nawab Waliuddowla. Despite this report, the majority of the Executive Council recommended that the findings of the Special Commission should be accepted. The Nizam accepted this recommendation and by his Firman dated 26th June, 1947, directed that the findings of the Special Commission should be implemented at an early date.

There was a proposal at the beginning that the members of the Special Commission themselves should be asked to implement their findings, but eventually it was decided by a resolution of the Executive Council dated 22nd September, 1947, that the task of en forcing the recommendations of the Commission should be entrusted to the Chief Justice of the Hyderabad High Court. It appears that in subsequent communications to the Executive Council the Nizam expressed doubt regarding the status of Mahboob Begum and Kadiran Begum and suggested the replacement of the Firman of 26th June, 1947, by now orders in the nature of a compromise. The Executive Council, however, stuck to their decision and on 17th June, 1948, the findings of the Special Commission were transferred to the Chief Justice for executing the same as early as possible. On 2nd July, 1948, another Firman was issued by the Nizam directing that the Chief Justice before making the final distribution of the matrooka should submit his report through the Executive Council to His Exalted Highness for his sanction. This direction was embodied in a resolution of the Executive Council dated 2nd September, 1948.

The police action in Hyderabad commenced soon after that and it was on 25th September, 1948, after the police action had terminated and a Military Governor was placed in charge of the Hyderabad State that a formal communication of the resolution mentioned above was made to the Chief Justice. Soon afterwards on the application of Ameerunnissa Begum made to the Military Governor the execution proceedings before the Chief Justice were stayed by an order dated 16th October, 1948. This stay order was again cancelled on 5th November, 1948, and the execution proceedings were allowed to continue. On 5th December, 1948, the Chief Justice submitted his report regarding the distribution of the matrooka to the Executive Council. Strangely, however, by a Firman dated 24th February, 1949, the Nizam purporting to set under the advice of the Military Governor directed that the findings of the three-men Advisory Committee, who differed from the views taken by the Special Commission, should be given effect to. In other words, the claims of Mahboob Begum and Kadiran Begum were dismissed and Ameerunissa Begum was directed to pay one lakh of rupees to Fatima, Begum as the dower due to the latter. Protest was lodged against the decision by Mahboob Begum and Kadiran Begum and again a Firman was issued by the Nizam under the advice of the Military Governor on 7th of September, 1949. By this Firman the earlier order of 24th February, 1949, was revoked and the whole case was referred for opinion and report to Sir George Spence, the Legal Adviser to the Military Governor, who was directed to hear the parties and take such further evidence as he considered necessary. The enquiry then began before the Legal Adviser but neither party adduced any evidence. Sir George Spence submitted his report on 7th January, 1950. The material findings and recommendations in his report were as follows:-