Dismissed¶¶18

Badri Prasad v. Dy. Director of Consolidation and Ors.

Supreme Court1 Aug 19781978 INSC 119 · [1979] 1 S.C.R. 11978 INSC 119

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Supreme Court of India, order delivered by Krishna Iyer, J. (bench incl. D. A. Desai and O. Chinnappa Ruddy, JJ.), August 1st, 1978 — Badri Prasad v. Dy. Director of Consolidation and Ors., SLP (Civil) Nos. 1731 and 927 of 1978 against Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench) orders dated 3-11-76 (W.P. 116 of 1971) and 5-8-77 (Rev. Appln. No. 29/77). Holding: strong presumption in favour of wedlock from long cohabitation as husband and wife; rebuttable only by a heavy burden on the challenger; law favours legitimacy; absence of eye-witness proof of the marriage ceremony after ~50 years does not defeat the marriage. Petitions dismissed.

What did the court decide?

A strong presumption arises in favour of wedlock where the partners have lived together for a long spell as husband and wife. ¶¶18

Badri Prasad versus Dy. Director of Consolidation and Ors. — Supreme Court (1979) — LawSathi Research

BADRI PRASAD

DY. DIRECTOR OF CONSOLIDATION AND ORS.

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August !st, 1978

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lV. R. KRISHNA IYER, D. A. DESAI AND 0. CHINNAPPA RUDDY, JJ.J

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Presumption in favour of valid marriage, law rega,rding-Law leans in favour of legitin1acy-Proof by eye-witness evidence after half a century not permissible.

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Dismissing the special leave petition, the Court

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HELD : If man and Vi'oman who live as husband and wife in society are compelled to prove, after half-a-century of wedlock by eye-witness evidence that they Vi'ere validly married fifty years eariler, feVi' will succeed. A strong presumption arises in favour of wed-lock where the partners have lived together for a Jong spell as husband and wife. Although the presumption is rebuttable, a heavy burden lies on him who seeks to deprive the relationship of its legal origin. Law leans in favour of legitimacy and frowns upon bastardy. [l F-H]

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CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Special Leave Petition (Civil) Nos. 1731 and 927 of 1978.

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From the Judgment and Order dated 3-11-76 of the Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench) in W.P. 116 of 1971 and from the Judgment and Order dated 5-8-77 of the Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench) in Revision Application No. 29/77 respectively.

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R. K. Garg, Madan Mohan and V. J. Francis for the Petitioner._ The Order of the Court was delivered by

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KRISHNA IYER, J.-For around 50 years, a man and a woman, as the facts in this case unfold, lived as husband and wife. An adventurist challenge to the factum of marriage between the two, by the petitioner in thi~ special leave petition, has been negatived by the High Court. A strong presumption arises in favour of wed-lock where the partners have lived together for a long spell as husband and wife. Althongh the presumption is rebuttable, a heavy burden lies on him who seeks to deprive the relationship of legal origin. Law leans in favour of legitimacy and frowns upon bastardy. In this view, the contention of Shri Garg, for the petitioner, that long after the alleged marriage, evidence has not been produced to sustain its ceremonial process by examining the priest or other witnesses, deserves no consideration. If man and woman who live as husband and wife in society are compelled to prove, half a century later, by eye-witness evidence that they were validly married, few wi.ll succeed. The contention deserves to be negatived and we do so without hesitation. The special leave petitions are dismissed.

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Petitions dismissed.

S.R.