Every Muslim in the sub-continent is presumed to belong to Sunni sect, unless ‘good evidence’ to the contrary is produced by the party contesting the same.

Every Muslim in the sub-continent is presumed to belong to Sunni sect, unless ‘good evidence’ to the contrary is produced by the party contesting the same. The judicial determination of whether the said presumption of faith of a party, positively stands rebutted, would be adjudged by the Court on the principle of preponderance of evidence produced by the parties. No strict criteria can be set to determine the faith of a person and therefore to pass any finding thereon, the Courts are to consider the surrounding circumstances i.e. way of life, parental faith and faith of other close relatives.

There is no principle of universal application to determine the faith of a person except direct disclosure by words from the mouth of deceased, circumstantial evidence of the conduct of deceased and opinion of witnesses.