LAW OF EVIDENCE 563
1. § Matters which parties are debarred from asserting—
Matters which parties are debarred from asserting are spoken of in the Evidence Act as Matters of Conclusive proof or commonly spoken of as irrebuttable presumptions or presumptions of Law.
They are dealt with in Sections 41, 112 and 113.
II. Section 112
- This section deals with the Question :
How to prove that A is the legitimate child of B and his wife C ?
- There are two ways of proving this fact according to two different contingencies.
(i) If the contingency is that the child is born during wedlock.
(a) Prove lawful marriage between B and C .
(b) Prove the Existence of Marital relations between B and C at the date of the birth of A.
On proof of these two facts the Law will conclude that A is the legitimate son of B and C .
(ii) If the Contingency is that the child is born after dissolution of the marriage between B & C —Either by death of the father or divorce.
(a) Prove that A was born within 280 days after the dissolution of the marriage by death or divorce.
(b) Prove that the morther had remained unmarried during that period of 280 days.
On Proof of these two facts the law will conclude that A is the legitimate son of B and C .
Points to be noted
- The deciding factor in the question of legitimacy is not the time of the conception of the child but the time of the birth of the child. Whoever was the husband of the woman at the time of the birth of the child is the father.
Illus.
- Pal Singh vs. Jagir. 7 Lahore 368.
Harnam Kaur married Hari Singh. Hari Singh died on the
10th January 1919. Harnam Kaur married Sohan Singh on