Special Leave Petition Civil Nos
1731 and 927 of 1978
From the Judgment and order dated 3 11 76 of the Allahabad High Court Lucknow Bench in WP 116 of 1971 and from the Judgment and order dated 5 8 77 of the Allahabad High Court Lucknow Bench in Revision Application No 2977 respectively
R K Garg Madan Mohan and V J Francis for the Petitioner
The order of the Court was delivered by 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 this 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
Although 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 will succeed
The contention deserves to be negatived and we do so without hesitation
The special leave petitions are dismissed
SR Petitions dismissed


Summary:
Dismissing the special leave petition the Court  HELD If man and woman who live as husband and wife in society are compelled to prove after half a century of wedlock by eye witness evidence that they were validly married fifty years earlier few will succeed
 A strong presumption arises in favour of wed lock where the partners have lived together for a long 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
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