UKKU v. KIRIHONDA.

C. R., Kegalla, 4,433.

Kandyan Law-Cohabitation before marriage-Subsequent registration-Ordinance No. 3 of 1870, ss. 11and 39-Sett evidence of marriage- Validation of what had been before a void marriage-Marriage in bina or diga.

A Kandyan woman, having for two years cohabited with a Kandyan man in the mulgedara or ancestral house of her father, went with that man to his house and lived in it for some years, and their marriage was then registered. The marriage certificate described the marriage to be in bina.

Held, that the entry in the register of marriages, good as it is prim& facie, may be rebutted by evidence which contradicts it.

Held also, per Moncreiff, J., with diffidence, that the effect of registration dates back to the original beginning of the connection between the parties and validates what had been before a void marriage. It also validates the legitimacy of the children born before the registration.

THE plaintiff claimed to be a daughter of one Lappaiya, who died intestate about the year 1896, leaving as his heirs the plaintiff, the three defendants, and one Dingiri. The plaintiff alleged that the defendants