1. The appellant is the mother of Anirudhan who on 6-3-1978 died of an accident that arose out of and in the course of his employment. The Commissioner for Workmen's Compensation apportioned under S.8 (5) of the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923 (hereinafter mentioned as the Act) the compensation-amount of Rs. 6000/- deposited by the employer under S.10A (2) of the Act, between the appellant, and the respondent, an infant now aged 7, allotting to the former Rs. 2000/-and to the latter, Rs. 4000/-. The Commissioner found that the respondent-child is the illegitimate daughter born of Anirudhan to its mother, Mercy, a woman married to another-one Joseph Peter-who is alive. Mercy's claim that she is the widow of Anirudhan was not accepted by the Commissioner since she failed to establish that her marriage to Joseph Peter does not subsist. The appellant contends that the Commissioner should have applied S.112 of the Evidence Act, 1872 and found that the respondent-child is the legitimate daughter of Joseph Peter, and on that basis claims the whole of the compensation-amount.

2. Mercy has sworn that Anirudhan married her in the Gandharva form of marriage, that they were residin