Supreme Court has recently ruled that unmarried couple who are living together as husband and wife would be presumed to be legally married and consequently the woman would be eligible to inherit the property of her partner after his death.
According to the media report, the ruling was passed by the bench of Justice MY Eqbal and Justice Amitava Roy said continuous cohabitation of a couple would raise the presumption of valid marriage and it would be for the opposite party to prove that they were not legally married.
The bench said that, “It is well settled that the law presumes in favour of marriage and against concubinage, when a man and woman have cohabited continuously for a long time. However, the presumption can be rebutted by leading unimpeachable evidence. A heavy burden lies on a party who seeks to deprive the relationship of legal origin.”
The Supreme Court has since 2010 consistently ruled in favour of couples living together as husband and wife.
The dispute was related to a family where members claimed that their grandfather, who was living with a woman for 20 years after his wife’s death, was not legally wedded to the woman, and the lady was not entitled to inherit the property of the old man after his death. They contended that the lady was only the mistress to their grandfather.
It said that,” there is strong presumption in favour of the validity of a marriage and the legitimacy of its child for the reason that the relationship is recognized by all persons concerned.”
Continuous cohabitation as husband and wife and their treatment as such for a number of years might raise the presumption of marriage which could be rebutted only if there were circumstances which destroyed the presumption, according to the SC.
The top court had observed that live-in relationship is neither a crime nor a sin and asked the Parliament to frame law for protection of women in such relationship and children born out of it, in 2013.