Whether Live in relationship with married person amounts to relationship in the nature of marriage as per provisions of DV Act?

Supreme Court: Dealing with a pivotal question that whether a ‘live-in-relationship’ would amount to ‘relationship in the nature of marriage’ under Section 2(f) of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (DV Act), the Court held that all live-in-relationships are not relationships in the nature of marriage and when the woman is aware of the fact of the marital status of her partner, she commits an intentional tort i.e. interference in the marital relationship with intentionally alienating respondent from his family, hence, she could not be said to have entered into a live-in-relationship in the nature of marriage.

However, considering the increasing number of such relationships, the 2-judge bench of Hon’ble K.S. Radhakrishnan and Pinaki Chandra Ghose, JJ said that Parliament needs to bring in proper legislation or make a proper amendment of the DV Act, so that women and the children, born out of such relationships be protected, though those types of relationship might not be a relationship in the nature of a marriage.

In the present case, the Court rejected the claim of maintenance on ground that the appellant was fully aware of the marital status of the respondent and that the respondent had never held out to the public that she was his wife. Also, the fact the pregnancy was terminated on three occasions showed that parties never entertained any intention to rear children. [Indra Sarma v. V.K.V. Sarma, Criminal Appeal No. 2009 of 2013, decided on November 26, 2013]

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