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Supreme Court to decide if live-in relations can be treated as 'de-facto' marriage

WION Web Team
Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Jul 03, 2018, 09:53 AM IST
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File photo: Supreme Court of India. Photograph:(Zee News Network)

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It is often observed that after the relationship falls apart, a woman is usually not in a situation to prove an incident of a criminal offence against the man

According to reports, the Supreme Court will determine if a woman is liable to compensation in case her live-in partner refuses to marry her. The apex court will decide whether live-in relationships can be treated as "de-facto" marriage.

In many cases, it is observed that after the relationship falls apart, a woman is usually not in a situation to prove an incident of a criminal offence against the man.

The top court maintained that a woman, in any case, should not be rendered "remediless" and subjected to any kind of exploitation. 

The court noted that a question which arose for consideration was whether, on account of long cohabitation (live-in), even if the relationship was held to be consensual, and the petitioner is not held liable for the alleged offence, he can be held responsible under civil liability by treating the relationship to be a de facto marriage.

"This interpretation may have to be considered so that a girl is not subjected to any exploitation and is not rendered remediless even if a criminal offence is not made out. Somewhat identical issue has been the subject matter of consideration in several decisions...," the Supreme Court bench said referring to other cases.