O.P. No. 1074/87 is a petition for declaration of nullity of marriage. while O.P. No. 1470/92 is a petition for restitution of conjugal rights.

2. Petitioners in O.P. 1074/87 and OP 1470/92 will be referred as the wife and husband. in that order hereinafter. The parties met in December. 1985 and the wife consented to marry the husband. in the belief that he was a Christian. born of Christian parents. belonging loan ancient family. that belief having been induced by the husband by making a representation to that effect. The parties were married on 2-3-1986 at the St. Sebastian's Church. Thodupzha according to the rites of the Syrian Catholic community.

3. After marriage. they lived together for a while at the wife's place. and then moved to the husband's parental home. It was only then that the wife realised that the husband was an Ezhava. baptised into Christianity recently. and that his parents were Ezhavas and not Christians. as he had represented. The wife would say that the husband had hot only practised fraud on her. but had also misappropriated her jewels. Not content with these. he had also persuaded her to have sexual intercourse with his friends. says the wife. S