AIR 1983 SUPREME COURT 684 ::1983 (3) SCC 118 ::(1983) 96 Mad LW 93

Supreme Court Of India

(From : Patna)*

Hon'ble Judge(s): S. Murtaza Fazal Ali, A. Varadarajan, V. Balakrishna Eradi , JJJ

(A) Evidence Act (1 of 1872) , S.13, S.32(5)— Genealogy of family - Evidence in respect of - Appreciation - Consideration to be kept. in mind. F.A. 85, 86 and 87 of 1966, D/- 15-12-1972.(Pat). Reversed. As there is a tendency on the part of an interested person or a party in order to grab, establish or prove an alleged claim to concoct, fabricate or procure false genealogy to suit their ends, the Courts in relying on the genealogy put forward must guard themselves against falling into trap laid by a series of documents or a labyrinth of seemingly old genealogies to support their rival claims.(Para 18) The principles governing such cases may be summarised thus: (1) Genealogies admitted or proved to be old and relied on in previous cases are doubtless relevant and in some cases may even be conclusive of the facts proved but there are several considerations which must be kept in mind by the Courts before accepting or relying on the genealogies; (a) Source of the genealogy and its dependability. (b) Admissibility of the genealogy under the Evidence Act. (c) A proper use of the said genealogies in decisions or judgments on which reliance is placed. (d) Age of genealogies. (e) Litigations where such genealogies have been accepted ....