PONNAMMAL Vs. SUNDARAM PILLAI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Before dealing with this appeal generally, it will be convenient to dispose of the question as to the admissibility of Exhibit A. This document was tendered in evidence on behalf of the plaintiff in support of the allegation contained in paragraph 3 of the plaints "Before his return to India, he gave plaintiff and defendants 1 and 2 each one-third share of the moveable and immoveable properties he possessed then under a will which he had executed on 28th February 1872."

(2.) Before the Subordinate Judge, no other evidence was tendered in proof of this allegation. The Subordinate Judge marked this document and filed It as an exhibit in the case, but in giving judgment he held that it was not admissible in evidence. The document purports to be a"copy of a will executed by a person of the name of Chinna Tamby Pillai. The copy contains an endorsement purporting to be signed by the Assistant Registrar-General for Ceylon, to the effect that the copy was a true copy of "last will and testament made from the protocal of record filed in that office, and the same was issued to M.R.M.A. Narayanen Chetti on his application at Colombo on the 8 day of March 1897."

(3.) The Subordinate Judge held this document inadmissible on the ground that it was not a " public document," and that if it was a public document, there was no certificate "under the seal, &c." Section 78(6) of the Indian Evidence Act. After the delivery of the judgment by the Subordinate Judge, the plaintiff obtained a certificate which purported to be signed by the Governor of Cey lon, to the effect that the person who signed the endorsement on A, was the Assistant Registrar-General for the Island of Ceylon.