Good afternoon everyone , so today I am going to present on the topic Live in relationship in india.

The institution of marriage in India is considered as a sacramental and eternal union which also results in
ensuring of various rights to the parties in the marriage whether it is conjugal rights , right for
maintenance , succession and many more. But with changing time India is accepting and moving
towards western culture and lifestyle due to which the concept of live-in relationship has started in
India. Live-in relationship is a living arrangement in which an unmarried couple lives together under the
same roof to conduct a long-going relationship similarly as in marriage but the definition and ambit of
live in relationship is not clear.

Reasons of live in relationship- so there can be various reasons why the people are now more indulging
in such kind of relationship. Few of them could be that the couple may want to test their compatibility
before committing to a legal union or they may feel that marriage is unnecessary. Or they don’t want
responsibilities ,and also that such kind of relation have no commitment and more freedom .

Then coming to live in relationship and laws in India-, there is no particular laws regarding the rights and
obligations to the parties of live-in relationship but few rights have been granted by interpretation and
amendments of existing legislations to prevent any kind of misuse by the partners.

Domestic violence act, 2005, acknowledged, live in relationships by giving rights and protection to those

females who are not legally married. , the court interpreted the expression “relationship in the nature
of marriage” mentioned in sec 2f and the Court presume live-in relationships to be covered under the
ambit of the expression as the words relationship in nature of marriage and live-in relationship have
same meaning.

Section 125 CrPC has been extended by judicial interpretation to partners of a live-in relationship as the
term wife now include women who has been in a live-in relationship for a sensible period of time, she
ought to have the legitimate privileges as that a of a spouse and can claim maintenance under Section
125 CrPC.

And according to sec 114 of Indian evidence act a man and woman living together for a long time as a
couple then there will be a presumption of marriage and the child to them will be legitimate.

Status of live in relationship in india-The legislations that deal with marriage, maintenance, and
succession does not expressly extends recognition to live in relationship. Therefore various high courts
and the Supreme Court had tried to explain the concept of live in relationship in number of cases so the
Laws are in the form of court verdicts which varies from case to case.

Coming to the legitimacy of live in relationship- so before independence in the case A. Dinohamy v.
W.L.Blahamy the privy council gave the observation that where a man and women lived together as
husband and wife there is presumption of valid marriage unless the contrary is proved. and the court
granted legality to a marriage in which the couple cohabited together for a period of 50 years. And this
same principle was reiterated in the case of Mohabhat Ali v. Mohammad Ibrahim Khan. and post
independence there are various judgments such as Thakur Gokal Chand v. Parvin Kumari of year 1952
so in this case the court reteriated the principle of Dinohamy’s case but also added that the
presumption of valid marriage is rebuttable if there is some circumstances which weakens the
presumption. And in Badri Prasad v. Deputy Director of Consolidation 1978 the sc observed that the
presumption is rebuttable and burden of proof lies on the person who want to prove that no marriage
took place. S. Khushboo v. Kanniammal AIR 2010 it is held that live in relationship is permissible and it is
not a criminal offence instead living together s a part of right to life under art-21 of const.

Velusamy vs. D. Patchaiammal-. the court observed that merely spending a weekend together or a night
would not make it a domestic relationship.and the certain pre- requisites for a live in relationship to be
valid 1. Couple must hold themselves out to society as being akin to spouses.2. must be of legal age to
marry or qualified to enter into a legal marriage including being un-married and should have voluntary
cohabitation for significant period of tym.and that not all relationship will amount to a relationship in
nature of marriage and get the benefit of domestic violence act. if a man keep a women as servent and
maintain her financially and uses mainly for sexual purposes then such relation is not in nature of
marriage.

Indra Sarma v. V.K.V. Sarma

The Supreme Court illustrated five categories where the concept of live in relationships can be
considered and proved in the court of law. 1.Domestic relationship between an adult male and an adult
female, both unmarried. 2. between a married man and an adult unmarried woman, entered
knowingly. 3. between an adult unmarried man and a married woman, entered knowingly 4. between
an unmarried adult female and a married male, entered unknowingly5.between same sex partners

The Court stated that a live-in relationship will fall within the expression “relationship in the nature of
marriage” under Section 2(f) of the Protection of women Against Domestic Violence Act, 2005

Rights of women in live in relations-in the case Abhijit Bhikaseth Auti v. State Of Maharashtra and
Others AIR 2009 the court held that women living in live in relationship can claim maintenance under

sec 125 of crpc. Vidyadhari Vs Sukhrana Bai AIR 2008 in this case the court issued succession certificate

to the live-in partner, who was nominated by the deceased. Koppisetti Subbharao Subramaniam vs.
State of Andhra Pradesh case has extended the protection of women from dowry even when they are in

a live-in relationship.

Right of children born out of a live-in relationship -1 stly about the legitimacy so for the 1st tym the sc held
legitimacy of child born out of live in relationship was in the case SPS Bala subramanyam v Sruttaya
where the sc said If a man and woman are living under the same roof and cohabiting for a number of
years, So according to sec 114 of evidence act there is a presumption that they live as husband and wife
and the children born will not be illegitimate.and similar observation is given in other cases Tulsa v.
durghatiya ,Madan Mohan Singh and others v. Rajni Kant and Uday Gupta vs. Aysha and Another57.
Then coming to right of maintenance-a child born out of live-in had not been covered in sec-21 of hindu
adoption and maintenance act.but sc in the case Dimple Gupta v Rajiv Gupta AIR 2010 held that such
child is also entitled for maintenance under sec- 125 of crpc. Whether they are legitimate or not , while
they are minors and even after the attainment of majority if he/she is unable o maintain themselves..

Property rights- in landmark judgement Vidyadhari v Sukhrana Bai court grant right of inheritance and
gave the status of legal heir to the children born out of live in relationship and in Bharat Matha & Ors
AIR 2010 the court observe that the child born of live in relation has right of inheritance in the property
of parents but does not have any claim in hindu ancestral coparcenary property

. Custody issues on a child born out of a live-in relationship at the time of separation are dealt in a similar
manner as in the case of marriage due to the absence of specific laws and sec 6 of Hindu Minority and
Guardianship Act, 1956 states that father is natural guardian of his minor legitimate children and sec
6 (b)says that mother has custodial rights in case the children born is out of illegitimate relation . and
in the case Gita hariharan v. reserve Bank of India laid down that father is natural guardian of his
legitimate children but mother becomes the natural guardian in the absence of the father which
means when the father is not capable of acting as the child’s guardian.  So by interpretation it can be
concluded that in the case of a break-up between the live-in partners by being the natural guardian of a
legitimate child, the father will acquire the custodial rights of the concerned child.

Conclusion – in conclusion I want to say that illegality is different from immorality. People may regard
live-in-relationships as immoral, but that is their own perception which cannot be allowed to influence
anyone else's personal decision. secondly T here should be separate legislation for such relationships
which provide certain rights and liabilities to such couples. Moreover, it protects the legal status of living
partners, their children born out of such a relationship and the other persons who may get affected.