If a man and a woman live together as husband and wife for years, then both are considered to be married
New Delhi, Dt
The country’s highest court, the Supreme Court, has given a major ruling on live-in relationships. The Supreme Court said that if a man and a woman live together as husband and wife for many years, then both of them will be considered as married and on that basis their children will also be entitled to the ancestral property. The whole affair was about a property dispute. In 2006, the Kerala High Court had in this case denied the right to paternal property to the son of a man and a woman living in a live-in relationship. The case reached the apex court and now the apex court has overturned the Kerala High Court’s judgment saying the son’s right to paternal property cannot be denied. The whole matter to be mentioned here was from Kerala. A case was pending in the court regarding the property of Colonel Vaidhar of Kattukandi Idhatil. Kattukandi had four sons Damodaran, Achyutan, Shekharan and Narayan. The petitioner stated that he was the son of Damodaran. While the defendant Karunakaran says that he is the son of Achyutan. Shekharan and Narayan died when they were unmarried. Karunakaran said that he was the only child of Achuthan. The other three brothers were unmarried. He alleged that the mother of the petitioner was not married to Damodaran and therefore she was not a legitimate child and could not be entitled to property. The property dispute went to trial court. The court held that Damodaran had been with Chiruthakutty for a long time and therefore it could be assumed that he was married. The trial court ordered the division of property into two parts. The case then went to the Kerala High Court. The court said that there was no evidence that Damodaran and Chiruthakutty had been together for a long time and therefore the documents proved that the plaintiff needed Damodaran’s son but not a legitimate child. The case then went to the Supreme Court and the court accepted that there was evidence that Damodaran and Chiruthakutty had lived as husband and wife for a long time. A bench of Justice S Abdul Nazir and Justice Vikram Nath said, “If a man and a woman live together as husband and wife for a long time, they can be considered married.” Such an estimate can be made under Section 114 of the Evidence Act. However, the court said that this assumption could be refuted but it would have to prove that the two had lived together for a long time but were not married. It is not a crime to live in a live-in relationship in India but till now if a man and a woman living in a live-in have had children, they would not have got the right to ancestral property. Now, with the Supreme Court ruling, children born to a man and a woman living in a live-in relationship will also get the right to paternal property.
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