Court: Allahabad High Court
Full Case Name: Khwaja Muhammad Khan V. Husaini Begum
Date Decided: 17th December 1906
Citations: (1907) ILR 29 All 222
Judges: Bench: J Stanley, W Burkitt
Appellant: Muhammad Rustam Ali Khan
Respondent: Husaini Begam
Facts: The plaintiff, namely Husaini Begam, who was a Mohammedan lady, married the son of the defendant, namely Khwaja Muhammad Khan. As per Islamic customs the plaintiff was to be given Rs. 500 as Kharch-i-Pandan. The agreement was enforced by the defendant at the time of marriage. The agreement was to be initiated after her reception into conjugal domicile, which started 6 years of their marriage. After 13 years of being together, the plaintiff abandoned her husband’s home and stayed in Moradabad as a result of certain altercations. The husband Rustam Ali Khan never bought an action against his wife for the restoration of conjugal rights.3The plaintiff sued the defendant for recuperation of Kharch-i-Pandan.
Issue: The contract between Khwaja Mohammad Khan and Husaini Begum existed, as according to rule of privity of contract, no stranger to contract can sue the parties in agreement to enforce the contract.
Judgement: The plaintiff was allowed to enforce the contract. The court said that the rule of privity of contract does not apply to the said case, as the facts and circumstances of this case are different.
Ratio Decidendi: The court advocated the fact that in India and among communities circumstanced as the Mohammedans, among whom marriages are contracted for minors by parents and guardians it might occasion serious injustice if the common law doctrine was applied to agreements entered into in connection with such contracts.