JUDGMENT

Walsh, J. - We have come to the conclusion that this appeal must be allowed and the suit dismissed. The point is a short one, but an interesting one arid not so technical and artificial as it appeared at first sight. We are much indebted to Mr. Peareial Banerji for his able argument on behalf of the appellant. The point may be stated in a very small compass. There is an undoubted, mystry about the fate of one Kedar Nath, who was engaged in commercial pursuits. He was a Bania who lived in Calcutta and who, for adequate reasons, namely, that he, was accused of, embezzlement, disappeared. This happened in December 1907, that is to say, just a little more than 13 years before this suit. He was only 23. He had no children. He had a young wife, and although feeble efforts have been made to prove his subsequent existence, nothing definite is known about it. If one had merely, on questions of fact, to draw inferences permitted by Section 114 of the Evidence Act, many considerations would have to be taken into account, including what has been pressed upon its on behalf of the respondent, that in the case of one who was not shown to have left the country, it is almost certain by now