Cohabitation May Presume Marriages

From Live Law - Indian Legal News:

The Supreme Court of India reiterated that long cohabitation between a man and woman raises a strong presumption in favour of their marriage. Although the presumption is rebuttable, a heavy burden lies on him who seeks to deprive the relationship of legal origin to prove that no marriage took place, the bench comprising Justices S. Abdul Nazeer and Vikram Nath observed.

The court, on examining the documents and evidence on record, observed that the plaintiffs had proved a long duration of cohabitation between the couple as husband and wife. Further, the defendants have failed to rebut the presumption in favour of marriage. 

The court noted that such presumption could be drawn under Section 114 of the Evidence Act. 

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