In Brief
The Supreme Court upheld a High Court judgment recognizing two adult children as legal heirs of a deceased man, finding they were born of his valid first marriage. The defendants, the man's second wife and her son, contended no first marriage existed. The Court relied on credible oral testimony from a 75-year-old village resident with long-standing knowledge of both families, which established the first wife cohabited with the deceased for decades. The law presumes valid marriage from prolonged cohabitation; the burden fell on the second wife to disprove it. Her deliberate absence from the witness box, despite physical capacity, attracted adverse inference. The Court dismissed appeals to revenue records, holding they establish only fiscal position, not title. Finding the plaintiffs had discharged their burden through consistent evidence while defendants offered only bare denials, the Court dismissed the appeal.
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