{"id":3250,"date":"2025-01-11T15:41:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-11T15:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/?p=3250"},"modified":"2025-03-12T16:05:22","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T10:35:22","slug":"rameshwari-devi-v-state-of-bihar-2000-case-summary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/family-law\/rameshwari-devi-v-state-of-bihar-2000-case-summary\/","title":{"rendered":"Rameshwari Devi v. State of Bihar 2000 (Case Summary)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"3250\" class=\"elementor elementor-3250\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-917020f elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no\" data-id=\"917020f\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-5aa9190\" data-id=\"5aa9190\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-0360c7f elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no\" data-id=\"0360c7f\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-f71d46a\" data-id=\"f71d46a\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d818b36 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"d818b36\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Rameshwari Devi v. State of Bihar AIR 2000 SC 735 (Case Summary)<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e246dd3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"e246dd3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1312\" height=\"736\" src=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/a-photo-of-the-supreme-court-of-india-in_r5k7d800QxuYnNH_VX6AHg_gZ2SFe72TPy9hYeoVyrTug.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-1536x1536 size-1536x1536 wp-image-3264\" alt=\"Rameshwari Devi v. State of Bihar\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/a-photo-of-the-supreme-court-of-india-in_r5k7d800QxuYnNH_VX6AHg_gZ2SFe72TPy9hYeoVyrTug.jpeg 1312w, https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/a-photo-of-the-supreme-court-of-india-in_r5k7d800QxuYnNH_VX6AHg_gZ2SFe72TPy9hYeoVyrTug-300x168.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/a-photo-of-the-supreme-court-of-india-in_r5k7d800QxuYnNH_VX6AHg_gZ2SFe72TPy9hYeoVyrTug-1024x574.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/a-photo-of-the-supreme-court-of-india-in_r5k7d800QxuYnNH_VX6AHg_gZ2SFe72TPy9hYeoVyrTug-150x84.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/a-photo-of-the-supreme-court-of-india-in_r5k7d800QxuYnNH_VX6AHg_gZ2SFe72TPy9hYeoVyrTug-768x431.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1312px) 100vw, 1312px\" title=\"\">\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0d9ee86 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0d9ee86\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this landmark case, the Supreme Court of India the Supreme Court of India addressed the issue of entitlement to family pension and other death benefits when a government servant is survived by two claimants\u2014the first wife and the children from a second, void marriage. The Court clarified the rights of children born from a void marriage under Section 16 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.The ruling brought clarity to the interpretation of Sections 16 and 21 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, which deals with the legitimacy of children born from void marriages.<\/span><\/p><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 ez-toc-wrap-left counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #000000;color:#000000\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #000000;color:#000000\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/family-law\/rameshwari-devi-v-state-of-bihar-2000-case-summary\/#Facts_of_Rameshwari_Devi_v_State_of_Bihar\" >Facts of Rameshwari Devi v State of Bihar\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/family-law\/rameshwari-devi-v-state-of-bihar-2000-case-summary\/#Issues_framed\" >Issues framed<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/family-law\/rameshwari-devi-v-state-of-bihar-2000-case-summary\/#Subordinate_Court_Judgment\" >Subordinate Court Judgment\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/family-law\/rameshwari-devi-v-state-of-bihar-2000-case-summary\/#Judgment_of_Rameshwari_Devi_v_State_of_Bihar\" >Judgment of Rameshwari Devi v State of Bihar\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/family-law\/rameshwari-devi-v-state-of-bihar-2000-case-summary\/#Read_the_Judgment_below\" >Read the Judgment below.<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Facts_of_Rameshwari_Devi_v_State_of_Bihar\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><b>Facts of Rameshwari Devi v State of Bihar\u00a0<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><ol><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rameshwari Devi, the first wife of Narian Lal, challenged the family pension and other benefits to the children of his second wife, Yogmaya Devi.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Narain Lal had married Yogmaya Devi in 1963, while still married to Rameshwari Devi. They had four sons.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rameshwari Devi claimed that the marriage between Narain Lal and Yogmaya Devi was void under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and the children born from this void marriage had no claim to the pension and other service benefits.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The State of Bihar had initially awarded benefits solely to Rameshwari Devi but later included Yogmaya\u2019s children based on the decision of the High Court.<\/span><\/li><\/ol><h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Issues_framed\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><b>Issues framed<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><ol><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether children born from a void marriage are entitled to inherit the father&#8217;s property under Section 16 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955?<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether Yogmaya Devi, as the second wife, has any legal entitlement to the pension and other service benefits of Narain Lal?<\/span><\/li><\/ol><h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Subordinate_Court_Judgment\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><b>Subordinate Court Judgment\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The trial court recognized the legitimacy of the children born to Yogmaya Devi and awarded them a share in the family pension. The Patna High Court upheld the trial court&#8217;s ruling, affirming that the children from the void marriage were legitimate for the purpose of inheritance and had a rightful claim to Narain Lal\u2019s family pension and death benefits.\u00a0 The case was then brought before the Supreme Court.<\/span><\/p><h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Judgment_of_Rameshwari_Devi_v_State_of_Bihar\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><b>Judgment of Rameshwari Devi v State of Bihar\u00a0<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Supreme Court interpreted Section 16 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, which legitimizes children born from void or voidable marriages, and Section 21 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, which deals with inheritance rights.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Supreme Court held that while the marriage between Yogmaya Devi and the deceased was void, the children born from that marriage were legitimate under Section 16 of the Hindu Marriage Act. The Court ruled that the children were entitled to inherit their father&#8217;s property, including his service benefits. However, the second wife, Yogmaya Devi, did not have any legal right to claim a share of the pension or other service benefits.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Supreme Court granted the children the right to inherit the property of their deceased father, including his service benefits, despite the void nature of the marriage. The court upheld the High Court\u2019s directive that the minor children of Yogmaya Devi share equally in the family pension and gratuity along with Rameshwari Devi and her son, until the minor&#8217;s reached adulthood.The Court emphasized the welfare of children and ruled that their rights should not be affected by the invalidity of their parents\u2019 marriage. However, the claim of Yogmaya Devi, the second wife, was rejected\u200b.<\/span><\/p><h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Read_the_Judgment_below\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><strong>Read the Judgment below.<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8af0c99 elementor-widget elementor-widget-pdfjs-viewer\" data-id=\"8af0c99\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"pdfjs-viewer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<iframe width=\"\" height=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdfjs-viewer-for-elementor\/\/assets\/js\/pdfjs\/web\/viewer.html?file=https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/rameshwari-devi-vs-1.pdf\"><\/iframe>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this landmark case, the Supreme Court of India the Supreme Court of India addressed the issue of entitlement to family pension and other death benefits when a government servant is survived by two claimants\u2014the first wife and the children from a second, void marriage. The Court clarified the rights of children born from a void marriage under Section 16 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3264,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[67,81],"class_list":["post-3250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family-law","tag-hindu-marriage-act-1955","tag-void-marriage"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3250"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4299,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3250\/revisions\/4299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}