Case: Neelakantan Damodaran Namboori &amp; Another Vs. Velayudhan Pillai Narayana Pillai &amp; Another

AP and AR are the letters alleged to have been written by the respondent wherein it is said that he admitted that the marriage of the appellants was performed in the sarvaswadanam form. Except letters marked as exhibits N, P, and Q which were admitted, others were not proved. Most of those letters were written to Narayanan Namboori at Sivolli Illom, that is the maternal grand-father of the second appellant. They were written after Narayanan Namboori of Kopprathu Illom filed O. S. No. 1016 of 112 against the respondent for the recovery of the suit property therein on the basis of a lease. In the written statement, the respondent, in an attempt to non-suit him, alleged that the appellants were married in sarvaswadanam form and therefore the suit without impleading them as parties was not maintainable. He also tried by writing some of the aforesaid letters to persuade Narayanan Namboori of Sivolli Illom, i.e., the maternal grandfather of the second appellant, to take steps to get exhibits X & XI cancelled on the basis of the aforesaid marriage. But after the death of Narayanan Namboori, he was able to get a document, exhibit XXIX, from the surviving member of the family, the old lady, Nangayya Antharjanam, conveying all the properties to him. The appellants took immediate steps to get the document set aside. This made the respondent to change his front and deny the form of marriage in sarvaswadanam form. Admittedly, the respondent was not present when the marriage took place. His admissions therefore are only based on hearsay. They only show that he is a speculator in litigation and had no. scruples to take inconsistent positions to achieve his ends. Therefore, the admissions made by the respondent cannot afford a sound basis for holding that the marriage was in sarvaswadanam form.15. There remains only the oral evidence adduced in this case. P. Ws. 2 and 3 have stated that the marriage was in sarvaswadanam form and exhibit C was written and signed on 25-6-1102. Both of the them are related to each other and are also related to Damodaran Namboori. That apart, they had stated that a number of respectable elderly Namboories attended the marriage; but none of them was examined; nor any attempt made to examine the priest, who, according to them, officiated at the marriage. The learned Judges were not able to accept the evidence of P. Ws. 2 and 3. We have gone through the evidence and we do not think that we are justified in taking a different view. P. W. 1, Damodaran Namboori is obviously an interested party and therefore his evidence cannot be accepted.16. To summarize, long before the marriage and the execution of exhibit C, Vasudevan Namboori and other members of the family were not on good terms and indeed there were protracted litigations between them. Vasudevan Namboori, with his daughter, left Kopprathu Illom, when Sankaran Namboori was treated as an out-caste in the year 1084 and began to live in his father-in-laws Illom. Though, Vasudevan was the karnavan from 1099, the actual management of the Illom affairs was in the hands of Narayanan Namboori. The members of the family joined together, borrowed an amount of Rs. 2, 500 and celebrated the marriage of the daughter of the family in 1102, as it was the legal obligation of the family. At the time of the marriage, streedhanam of Rs. 2, 000 was given to the bride. Exhibit C, the document recording the form of the marriage was not signed by the de facto manager or other elder members of the family. It did not see the light of day till 1106; when reliance was placed upon it, Narayanan Namboori denied that the marriage was in sarvaswadanam form. Narayanan Namboori and other members of the family, except Vasudevan Namboori, never treated the appellants as members of the family. They dealt with the property as if the appellants did not have any interest therein. The appellants also, notwithstanding the execution of exhibit C, never lived in the family house except for 10 days. They never enjoyed the family income nor did they ever claim any share in it. They did not set up that they were married in sarvaswadanam form except in the document Nangayya Antharjanam executed cancelling exhibit XXIX. The respondent who admittedly did not attend the marriage, took up inconsistent positions to suit his convenience. The respectable people who attended the marriage were not examined to prove the form of marriage. The two witnesses that were examined are not only related to each other but are also related to the first appellant. In the circumstances, though exhibit C was executed some time before it was registered, we hold on the evidence that it has not been established that the appellants were married in sarvaswadanam form..17. It is then contended that even if the marriage was not is sarvaswadanam form, the last surviving member of the family conveyed the suit properties to the appellants under exhibit A. There are two obstacles in the way of sustaining the appellants claim on the basis of exhibit A. If the marriage of the appellants did not take place in sarvaswadanam form. Nangayya Antharjanam had acted within her rights in settling her properties on the respondent under exhibit XXIX. Unless exhibit XXIX is displaced, exhibit A will not have any legal effect. The more insurmountable obstacle is that Nangayya Antharjanam did not create any interest in favour of the appellants under exhibit A. It is stated in exhibit A that, by reason of sarvaswadanam marriage, the appellants were entitled to all moveable and immovable properties belonging to Kopprathu Illom and therefore she was executing the release deed conferring all the rights and claims they have obtained over the Illom properties by the sarvaswadanam form of marriage. The document, therefore, in terms confirms the pre-existing rights of the appellants and as we hold that they had no. pre-existing rights, the document did not convey any interest to them.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 0

Explanation:
0[ds]6. No. material has been placed before us to show precisely the necessary ceremonies accompanying such a marriage and the legal incidents flowing from it. Neither before the High Court nor before the learned District Judge any attempt was made to contend that, though the marriage was ostensibly performed in sarvaswadanam form, the necessary ceremonies were not performed and therefore the marriage in that form was invalid.7. In the circumstances, we do not propose to express our opinion on the customary incidents of such a marriage. In the Courts below, the parties proceeded on the basis that in a sarvaswadanam marriage the daughter retained all the rights in the family properties in spite of her marriage, in the same way as a son did and if there was an agreement to that effect thealso would become a member of the family. We would, therefore, proceed to dispose of these appeals on the same basis.There remains only the oral evidence adduced in this case. P. Ws. 2 and 3 have stated that the marriage was in sarvaswadanam form and exhibit C was written and signed onBoth of the them are related to each other and are also related to Damodaran Namboori. That apart, they had stated that a number of respectable elderly Namboories attended the marriage; but none of them was examined; nor any attempt made to examine the priest, who, according to them, officiated at the marriage. The learned Judges were not able to accept the evidence of P. Ws. 2 and 3. We have gone through the evidence and we do not think that we are justified in taking a different view. P. W. 1, Damodaran Namboori is obviously an interested party and therefore his evidence cannot be accepted.16. To summarize, long before the marriage and the execution of exhibit C, Vasudevan Namboori and other members of the family were not on good terms and indeed there were protracted litigations between them. Vasudevan Namboori, with his daughter, left Kopprathu Illom, when Sankaran Namboori was treated as anoutcaste in the year 1084 andbegan to live in hisIllom. Though, Vasudevan was the karnavan from 1099, the actual management of the Illom affairs was in the hands of Narayanan Namboori. The members of the family joined together, borrowed an amount of Rs. 2, 500 and celebrated the marriage of the daughter of the family in 1102, as it was the legal obligation of the family. At the time of the marriage, streedhanam of Rs. 2, 000 was given to the bride. Exhibit C, the document recording the form of the marriage was not signed by the de facto manager or other elder members of the family. It did not see the light of day till 1106; when reliance was placed upon it, Narayanan Namboori denied that the marriage was in sarvaswadanam form. Narayanan Namboori and other members of the family, except Vasudevan Namboori, never treated the appellants as members of the family. They dealt with the property as if the appellants did not have any interest therein. The appellants also, notwithstanding the execution of exhibit C, never lived in the family house except for 10 days. They never enjoyed the family income nor did they ever claim any share in it. They did not set up that they were married in sarvaswadanam form except in the document Nangayya Antharjanam executed cancelling exhibit XXIX. The respondent who admittedly did not attend the marriage, took up inconsistent positions to suit his convenience. The respectable people who attended the marriage were not examined to prove the form of marriage. The two witnesses that were examined are not only related to each other but are also related to the first appellant. In the circumstances, though exhibit C was executed some time before it was registered, we hold on the evidence that it has not been established that the appellants were married in sarvaswadanam form..17.It is then contended that even if the marriage was not is sarvaswadanam form, the last surviving member of the family conveyed the suit properties to the appellants under exhibit A.There are two obstacles in the way of sustaining the appellants claim on the basis of exhibit A. If the marriage of the appellants did not take place in sarvaswadanam form. Nangayya Antharjanam had acted within her rights in settling her properties on the respondent under exhibit XXIX. Unless exhibit XXIX is displaced, exhibit A will not have any legal effect. The more insurmountable obstacle is that Nangayya Antharjanam did not create any interest in favour of the appellants under exhibit A. It is stated in exhibit A that, by reason of sarvaswadanam marriage, the appellants were entitled to all moveable and immovable properties belonging to Kopprathu Illom and therefore she was executing the release deed conferring all the rights and claims they have obtained over the Illom properties by the sarvaswadanam form of marriage. The document, therefore, in terms confirms therights of the appellants and as we hold that they had no.rights, the document did not convey any interest to them.Prima facie the document supports the appellants version. But a scrutiny of the evidence discloses that the respondents case is true. The circumstances of the family before the date of the marriage would afford a background for appreciating the evidence in this case. Though Vasudevan Namboori was the eldest member of the Koprathu Illom and therefore its de jure karnavan, it is common case that he left his family house along with his daughter and shifted his residence to Sivolli Illom, the place of hisVasudevan Namboori admitted in his evidence in O. S. 448 of 1106 that the Illom affairs were not attended to by him, at any rate, from the year 1099. Cash receipts exhibits AC and AD and the michavaram receipts ranging from 1101 to 1104 are in the name of Narayanan Namboori. Indeed it is not disputed that Narayanan Namboori, the junior member of the family, had been in actual management of the family and its properties till he died.