AUTHOR-Samridhi Sharda
India is a nation where marriages are perceived as holy sacraments and not just the union of two people. The legal ramifications of this matrimony further contribute to the sacredness of this union and empower both individuals to form not only family relationships but also gives them a plethora of other rights. In the recent years, Indian societies have witnessed an immense growth in the status of live-in relationships. This is a form of living arrangement wherein, a couple starts living together and co- habituating under the same roof, without getting married.
According to the Indian Law, a live-in relationship is still an alien concept and thus there are no specific legislations regarding it. Personal lawsdo not recognize this form of matrimony but Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 grants inheritance rights to children born out of such wedlock. Such relations are thuslegally valid but not legally binding in India.Legal recognition to this type of relationship has been given by courts in several landmark judgment’s – Badri Prasad v. Dy. Director of Consolidation and Indra Sarma v. VKV Sarma where the court defined live- in relations in five different ways and regarded that it is domestic cohabitation between unmarried man and woman comes under the purview of right to life and thus is not a crime. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 provides certain protections, provisions and alimony for maintenance and rights to the aggrieved live-in partner. The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 has also been incorporated under Section 125 in order to avoid delinquency and abuse of partners which has now been expanded by judicial definitions. The Indian Evidence Act, 1872 clearly specifies the reasonable period; where a man and a woman have lived together for a long period of time, there is an assumption of marriage.
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