Judgment

K. SUBBA RAO, J. : These three appeals by certificate by the High Court of Travancore-Cochin are directed against the common judgment dated December 5, 1952, in A. S. 532, 535 and 540 of 1123 by which the High Court set aside the decrees of the District Court of Kottayam in O. S. 107 of 1114, 20 of 1116 and 72 of 1120 and dismissed the appellants suits.

2. The result of these appeals turns upon the proof of the factum of marriage of the appellants, Damodaram Namboori and Nangayya Antharjanam, in sarvaswadanam form. Though the pleadings disclose a wider field of controversy, it would be enough if the facts and circumstances giving rise to the aforesaid question are briefly stated.

3. Vasudevan Namboori, his brothers, Adityan Namboori and Narayanan Namboori, his father, his father s brother s widow, and his daughter, Nangayya Antharjanam (the 2nd appellant) were the surviving members of Kopprathu Illom in the Malayalam year 1102. It appears that another member of the Illom, Sankaran Namboori, was treated as an outcaste in the year 1084 and though for that reason ceased to be a member of the Illom, he persisted to continue to live in the family house. Nangayya Antharjanam the s