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101. These are the circumstances under which I to use the language of Baillie's Digest (page 401)] "the acknowledgment by a man of a child is valid." In Sir Roland Wilson's Anglo-Muhammadan Law it is said that it "seems" that there is a fourth circumstance under which an alleged acknowledgment is not in law such and which is stated as follows: Proof that the mother of the acknowledgee could not possibly have been the lawful wife of the acknowledger at any time when the acknowledgee could have been begotten." It is contended for the appellant that the case law is not in all respects in conformity with the Mubammadan Law books. However this may be, we must consider and may be bound by previous legal decisions. There is judicial authority for the proposition that there is no valid acknowledgment where it has been proved that there was a legal bar to the marriage of the acknowledger and the woman whose son the claimant to legitimacy is said to be. Thus it has been held that there could be no acknowledgment where it has been proved that the father and mother could not have validly married one another, the alleged wife being a Hindu, though in this case it was also found that there was no marriage: Dhan Bibi v. Lalon Bibi 27 C. 801 : 14 Ind. Dec. (N.S.) 525 where there was an incestuous and, therefore, void union: Aizunnissa Khatoon v. Karimunnissa Khatoon 23 C. 130 : 12 Ind. Dec. (N.S.) 87 and where; the claimant was shown to be the child of adultery and where, therefore, the acknowledger could not have been married to the mother at the time when the claimant was begotten: Liaqat Ali v. Karim-un-nissa 15 A. 396 : A.W.N. (1893) 167 : 7 Ind. Dec. (N.S.) 973 : though it is to be observed as to the last point that the Privy Council in Sadakat Hussein v. Mahomed Yusuf 11 I.A. 31 : 10 C. 663 : 4 Sar. P.C.J. 519 : 8 Ind. Jur. 212 : 5 Ind. Dec. (N.S.) 446 (P.C.) left open the question whether the offspring of an adulterous intercourse can be legitimated by any acknowledgment. Possibly this may have been meant to exclude oases of "deception." The point before us for decision (apart from the question whether the alleged acknowledgment was made with the intention of conferring legitimacy) is this-Where there is an acknowledgment in other respects valid, is it invalid if the facts proved are held to show; that there was no marriage or semblance of marriage at the date the child was born so that the latter was issue of fornication (zina).