Paragraph numbers below are the court’s original numbering, recovered from the source text.
11. Now we come to the most material evidence (Annex. P-8) submitted by the appellants in respect of age of Rajni Kant, respondent No.1. The said document is a Certificate for practicing Unani medicine and therein his date of birth has been shown as 15.7.1940. If this document is taken to be true and D compared with the document contained in Annexure P-1 (Colly) wherein Smt. Shakuntala had been shown 34 years of age in 1975 and 36 years of age in 1979, it becomes arithmetically, clear that Smt. Shakuntala had given birth to him even prior to her own birth~
12. The aforesaid documents placed on record by the appellants and so heavily relied upon by them, if taken into consideration, they would simply lead not only to improbabilities and impossibilities but absurdity also. It is most unfortunate that none of the courts below had analysed these documents in this manner while taking them into consideration and none of the lawyers have thought it proper to bring these most glaring facts to the notice of and of the courts.
13. In State of Bihar & Ors. Vs. Radha Krishna Singh &' Ors. Al R 1983 SC 684, this Court dealt with a similar contention and held as under:- . '"' "Admissibility of a document is one thing and its probative value quite another – these two aspects cannot be combined. A document may be admissible and yet may MADAN MOHAN SINGH AND ORS. v. RAJNI KANT AND ANR. [DR. B.S. CHAUHAN, J.] <not carry any conviction and weight of its probative value A may be nil.. …. Where a report is given by a responsible officer, which is based on evidence of witnesses and documents and has "a statutory flavour in that it is given not merely by an ·administrative officer but under the authority of a Statute, 8 its probative value would indeed be very high so as to be entitled to great weight. The probative value of documents which, however ancient they may be, do not disclose sources of their information C or have not achieved sufficient notoriety is precious little."
14. Therefore, a document may be admissible, but as to whether the entry contained therein has any probative value may still be required to be examined in the facts and circumstances 0 of a particular case. The aforesaid legal proposition stands fortified by. the judgments of this Court in Ram Prasad Sharma Vs. State of Bihar AIR 1970 SC 326; Ram Murti Vs. State of Haryana AIR 1970 SC 1029; Dayaram & ·Ors. Vs. Dawalatshah & Anr. AIR 1971 SC 681; Harpal Singh & Anr. Vs. State of Himachal Pradesh AIR 1981 SC 361; Ravinder Singh Gorkhi Vs. State of U.P. (2006) 5 SCC 584; Babloo Pasi Vs. State of Jharkhand & Anr. (2008) 13 SCC 133; Desh Raj Vs. Bodh Raj AIR 2008 SC 632; and Ram Suresh Singh Vs. Prabhat Singh @Chhotu Singh & Anr. (2009) 6 SCC-681. In these cases, it has been held that even if the entry was made in an official record by the concerned official in the discharge of his official duty, it may have weight but still may require corroboration by the person on whose information the entry has been made and as to whether the entry so made has been exhibited and proved. The standard of prciof required herein is G the same as in other civil and criminal cases.
15. Such entries may be in any public document, i.e. school register, voter list or family register prepared under the Rules and Regulations etc. in force, and may be admissible under H .44 Section 35 of the Evidence Act as held in Mohd. lkram Hussain Vs. The State of UP. & Ors. AIR 1964 SC 1625; and Santenu Mitra Vs. State of West Bengal AIR 1999 SC 1587.
16. So far as the entries made in the official record by an official or person authorised in performance of official duties are concerned, they may be admissible under Section 35 of the Evidence Act but the court has a right to examine their probative value. The authenticity of the entries would depend on whose information such entries stood recorded and what was his source of information. The entry in School Register/ School Leaving Certificate require to be proved in accordance with law and the standard of proof required in such cases remained the same as in any other civil or criminal cases.
17. For determining the age of a person, the best evidence · is of his/her parents, if it is supported by unimpechable documents. In case the date of birth depicted in the school register/certificate stands belied by the unimpechable evidence of reliable persons and contemporaneous documents like the date of birth register of the Municipal Corporation, Government Hospital/Nursing Home etc, the entry in the school register is to be discarded. (Vide: Brij Mohan Singh Vs. Priya Brat Narain Sinha & Ors. AIR 1965 SC 282; Birad Mal Singhvi Vs. Anand Purohit AIR 1988 SC 1796; Vishnu Vs. State of Maharashtra (2006) 1 SCC 283; and Satpal Singh Vs. State of Haryana JT 2010 (7) SC 500).
18. If a person wants to rely on a particular date of birth and wants to press a document in service, he has to prove its authenticity in terms of Section 32(5) or Sections 50,51,59,60 and 61, etc. of the Evidence Act by examining the person having special means of knowledge, authenticity of date, tinie etc. mentioned therein. (Vide: Updesh Kumar & Ors.· Vs. Prithvi Singh & Ors., (2001) 2 SCC 524; and State of Punjab Vs. Mohinder Singh, AIR 2005 SC 1868).
19. In S. Khushboo Vs. Kanniammal & Anr. (2010) 5 SCC MADAN MOHAN SINGH AND ORS. v. RAJNI KANT AND ANR. [DR. B.S. CHAUHAN, J.] 600, this Court, placing reliance upon its earlier decision in Lata Singh Vs. State of U.P. & Anr. AIR 2006 SC 2522, held that live-in-relationship is permissible only in unmarried major persons of heterogeneous sex.
20. In S.P.S. Balasubramanyam Vs. Suruttayan @ Andali Padayachi & Ors. AIR 1992 SC 756, this Court held that if man. and woman are living under the same roof and cohabiting for a number of years, there will be a presumption under Section 114 of the Evidence Act, that they live as h·usband and \Nife and the children born to them will not be illegitimate.
21. The courts have consistently held that the law presume$ in favour of marriage and against concubinage, when a man and woman have cohabited continuously for a number of years. However, such presumption can be rebutted by leading· unimpeachable evidence. (Vide: Mohabbat Ali Khan· D Vs. Mohd. Ibrahim Khan, AIR 1929 PC 135; Gokalchand Vs .. Parvin Kumar, AIR 1952 SC 231; S.P.S. Balasubramanyam Vs. Suruttayan, (1994) 1 SCC 460; Ranganath Parmeshwar Panditrao Mali Vs. Eknath Gajanan Kulkarni, (1996) 7 SCC 681; and Sobha Hymavathi Devi Vs. Setti Gangadhara Swamy & Ors., (2005) 2 SCC 244).
22. In view of the above, the kind of material placed by the appellants on record cannot be termed enough to disbelieve the claim of the respondents. The findings of facts recorded by the courts below cannot be disturbed on this material. The appellants' case has been that the respondents were born prior to 1960 i.e. prior to the year Chandra Deo Singh started living with Smt. Shakuntala. As per the Annexure P1 (Colly), Smt. Shak.untala was born near about 1941. If the documents filed by the appellants are taken to be true, we will have to record a finding of fact that Smt. Shakuntala gave birth to her two daughters, namely, Asha and Savitri, when she was only 5-6 years of age and in case, the Certificate of Rajni Kant- respondent no.1, contained in Annexure P8 is taken to be true [2010) 10 S.C.R. A and is considered in the light of the documents contained in Annexure P1 (Colly), it could be arithmetically clear that Smt. Shakuntala had given birth to Rajni Kant, respondent No. 1 on 15. 7 .1940, i.e., even prior to her own birth in 1941. If all the said documents are accepted, they would simply lead not only to 8 improbabilities and impossibilities but absurdity also. It is most IJnfortunate that none. of the courts below had analysed documents in correct perspective. The live-in-relationship if continued for such a long time, cannot be termed in as "walk in and walk out" relationship and there is a presumption of c marriage between them which the appellants failed to rebut.
23. In view of the above, the appeal does not present special facts and circumstances which may warrant further re- appreciation of the evidence as the appeal is based on totally unreliable/contradicting documents and not worth placing any D reliance. It is accordingly dismissed. No cost. 8.8.B. Appeal dismissed.