JUDGMENT

This appeal is preferred by the defendants aggrieved by the preliminary decree for partition passed by the Munsiff Court, Alathur, in O.S. No. 99 of 2015 affirmed in A.S. No. 93 of 2019 by the Addl. District Court – IV, Palakkad.

2. The plaintiff claimed that she is the legally wedded wife of Chandran and on his death, she sued the defendants for partition of the plaint schedule property. The defendants resisted the suit by contending that the marriage of the plaintiff with Chandran is not legal inasmuch the plaintiff was married to one Gopalan and during the subsistence of that marriage, she had contracted to marry with Chandran and, therefore, she cannot be held as the legally wedded wife of Chandran. In support of their plea that the plaintiff had married one Gopalan, defendants examined the said Gopalan as DW3 and he deposed that he had married the plaintiff after following the religious ceremonies.

2.1. The plaintiff, on the o