Editorial
June 16, 2022

Setting aside a Kerala High Court ruling, the Supreme Court decided that illegitimate offspring of a couple who have been living together for a long period without marrying might inherit a portion of the family property.The Supreme Court was hearing an appeal against a high court judgement that dismissed the property sharing claim of an alleged illegitimate child on the grounds that the plaintiff’s parents did not marry.However, because the couple had been living together for a long period, the Supreme Court stated that their connection was as good as marriage.”It is widely established that if a man and a woman live together as husband and wife for many years, there is a presumption in favour of marriage. Section 114 of the Evidence Act allows for the creation of such a presumption. Although the assumption is rebuttable, the person seeking to deprive the connection of legal origin bears a significant burden of proving that no marriage occurred “it stated.It further stated that the Trial Court determined that the pair Damodaran and Chiruthakutty had been cohabiting for a long period after reviewing the facts on file. Damodaran married Chiruthakutty in 1940, according to the lawsuit. There is, however, no concrete evidence of their marriage.”The records provided by the plaintiffs were in existence long before the parties’ dispute began. These records, along with the proof, would demonstrate Damodaran and Chiruthakutty’s lengthy history of cohabitation as husband and wife “The bench of Justices S. Abdul Nazeer and Vikram Nath issued the order.
By Subhechcha Ganguly
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