CORAM
ADEMOLA, CHIEF JUSTICE, NIGERIA
COKER, JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT
SOWEMIMO, JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT
PARTIES
THEOPHILUS A. AWOBOKUN & ANOR APPELLANTS
RESPONDENTS
AREA(S) OF LAW
SUMMARY OF FACTS
The respondent entered a caveat against the notice of marriage between the appellants. She became frightened when convicted for contempt and subsequently withdrew the case. The caveat was cancelled by the court with costs without hearing the grounds.
HELD
The court held that once a caveat is filed against a notice of marriage, the High court must hear the grounds for entering the caveat and that withdrawal of the case do not amount to a hearing under the marriage Act.
ISSUES
Whether the Western State Court of Appeal was right when it allowed the respondents appeal against the decision of the High Court cancelling the caveat entered by her against the notice of marriage between the appellants
RATIONES DECIDENDI
ABANDONMENT OF CAVEAT IN MATRIMONIAL CAUSES
It is true that the Act made no provisions as to how a caveat can be abandoned once it has been entered; in our view the Act is silent on this point for a purpose. We are of the view that once a caveat is entered the purpose is that it must be pursued so as to ensure that the parties to the proposed marriage may be free once and for all to celebrate the marriage or be forbidden to marry. Per Ademola CJN
CASES CITED
STATUTES REFERRED TO
The Marriage Act
High Court (Western State) Civil Procedure Rules