India, Oct. 12 -- A man accused of marrying a woman while her first marriage was still legally subsisting has failed to get the bigamy proceedings against him quashed, with the Bombay High Court ruling on Friday that the claim suggesting the couple lived and presented themselves as husband and wife must be examined during the trial.

A single-judge bench of Justice Milind N Jadhav held, "Strong presumption arises in favour of marriage when two people, who not only live together for a long period of time as husband and wife but also portray to the world that they are husband and wife. Albeit rebuttable, this presumption can only be rebutted by unshakable evidence and the heavy burden lies on the person who seeks to deprive the relationship...