LIVE IN RELATIONSHIP AND ITS IMPACT ON SOCIETY- BY A.SAJIDA MEERA RUMANA

ABSTRACT

India is a place where marriage is seen as a sacramental institution and hence a man and women if want to live together, have to get themselves tied in the institution of marriage. However, in the 21^st century a new concept which is known as “live in relationship” has emerged. Under live in relationship which a man and women live together without getting married. This concept in India is fairly new but is spreading rapidly. Various Supreme Court judgements have recognized the concept of live in relationship and has legalized it.  Live in relationship whether legal or illegal is very subjective especially in India where traditions are given utmost importance and violating them is considered as a sin.

INTRODUCTION

In India traditionally marriage is a sacramental institution and the very essence of marriage is based on the principles of tolerance and responsibilities. People from generations have been following these principles when they get married. But as Indian society moved forward and become much more modern people started looking for an alternative to marriage according to the new generation youth wanted something under which they can live like a married couple without any commitments, under these circumstances the concept of the live-in relationship seemed to be the savior. However, the concept of the live-in relationship had various side effects such as; whether these relationships are legal or whether pre-marital sex should be legalized in India, especially when marriage was an institute to legalize the sexual relationships. The most important issue that arose was that what would happen to children born out of these relationships. One thing to be noted is that the practice of live-in relationships is widely practiced in urban India especially in metropolitan cities. 

WHAT IS LIVE IN RELATIONSHIP AND ITS LEGALITY

Live-in Relationship does not create any rights and responsibilities. It can be defined as a walk-in and walk-out relationship. The big question arises is this kind of relationship recognised? The answer is yes although live-in relationship is not recognised in any statute or any other government legislation. But the Supreme Court of India through various judgement has given live in relationship a legal backing. For the first time, the question of whether live-in relationship is a legal relationship came to the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Badri Prasad v. Dy. Director of Consolidation, AIR. (1978). SC. 1557. In the present case the parties were living in a live in relationship for almost 50 years and the question before the court was whether their relationship be granted the same status which is granted to a married couple and the apex court’s decision was in  favour of  the couple and the apex court granted legal status to their 50 year relationship. In the case of Alok Kumar v. State, 5 Cr.l.M.C. No.299/2009 (India), Delhi High Court observed that live in relationship is a walk in and walk out relationship. It does not create any legal obligations on the partners living together, and the partners living together cannot approach the court alleging the other partner of any kind of infidelity. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in the famous case of Payal Katra v. Superintendent, Nari Niketan and others, (2006) 8 SCC 726, held that there is no law that prohibits live in relationship and hence if two couple living together without marriage cannot be construed to be illegal and hence it is not an offence. The next question that arises that whether the women in a live-in relationship be entitled to any maintenance especially under section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. One of the reports submitted by the National Commission of Women to Ministry of women and Child Development suggested that women living under live-in a relationship should be entitled to maintenance under section 125 of the Crpc, 1973. However, the live-in partner can claim compensation under the Domestic Violence Act. In the case of Lalita Toppo v. State of Jharkhand, AIR 2015 SC 1656, the Apex Court held that a live-in partner not married validly cannot obtain maintenance under Section 125 of the Crpc but it can claim more compensation under Domestic Violence Act, 2005. Therefore, it can be concluded that a live-in partner can claim compensation irrespective of the fact whether he or she is married or not. Similarly in the case of Indra Sarma v. VKV Sarma, (2010) SCC 469, the Supreme Court held that if at any point any male who is not married lives with a women who is also not married and they also shared the same house then that will come under section 2(f) of Domestic Violence Act and if at any point of time domestic violence occurs then the aggrieved person can seek relief under the chapter IV of the Domestic Violence Act. In the case of SPS Balasubramanyam v. Scruttayan, (1994) SCC (1)460, it was held by the Supreme Court that if a man and women are living together for a considerable period of time then it would be presumed within Section 114 of the Evidence Act that they are husband and wife and children born will be legitimate children. Similarly, in the case of Bharata Matha, AIR 2010 SC 2685, it was held by the Supreme Court that a child born out of live in relationship is a legitimate child and he has the right to access the property of his parents excluding the ancestral undivided property. 

CONCLUSION

By looking at the Indian Society from time immemorial one thing has remained common and that is the way they live their lives and how much they value their traditions, and the same goes for a marriage. When it comes to marriage in India traditions have been given utmost importance and therefore any deviance from any tradition is considered to be a sin in Indian Society. The concept of live in relationship is totally opposite to the concept of marriage, the main reason why men and women enter into marital ties is to secure each other and to support each other, although in live in relationship couple are living together because they love each other the degree of security that is present in marriages is not present in live in relationship. Indian people are conditioned to those tradition and values and therefore it would be wrong to judge those people who oppose the concept of live in relationship. Change in society takes place gradually and hence change should be gradual and not sudden. The concept of live in relationship is taken from the western world and hence it will bring rational thinking and make people more open-minded and encourage them to think broadly.