Live-in partners can’t complain of infidelity, says Delhi high court

A partner in a live-in relationship can walk out of it without any legal consequence and people cannot complain of infidelity if one partner in a live-in relationship ditches the other, the Delhi high court said today.

"Live-in relationship is a walk-in and walk-out relationship," Justice SN Dhingra said while quashing criminal proceedings initiated by a woman against her live-in partner after he refused to marry her.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/legal-and-advisory/33219-live-partners-can-t-complain-infidelity.html

"There are no strings attached to this relationship nor does this relationship create any legal bond between the parties," the justice said.
"People who chose to have a live-in relationship cannot complain of infidelity or immorality as live-in relationships are also known to have been between a married man and unmarried woman or between a married woman and unmarried man."

The court passed the order on a petition filed by a London-based lawyer, against whom a criminal complaint was filed by a woman with whom he had had a live-in relationship, seeking to quash proceedings against him.

The petitioner, Alok Kumar, submitted that he refused to marry the woman as his parents were against the relationship.

Granting relief to Kumar, the court said the first information report should be quashed to prevent misuse of the criminal justice system for personal vengeance of a partner in a live-in relationship.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=33219

"It is a contract of living together which is renewed everyday by the parties and can be terminated by either of the parties without the consent of the other party and one party can walk out at will at any time," the court said.

"Those who do not want to enter into this kind of relationship of walk-in and walk-out, they enter into a relationship of marriage where the bond between the parties has legal implications and obligations and cannot be broken by either party at will," the court said.


Rajneesh Madhok

 
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rajneesh madhock ji

Under Indian law, is there a concept of "common law marriage" as there is in some other parts of the world -- such that after cohabiting as man and wife for "x" number of years, the relationship attains the status of a legally binding marriage?
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=33219
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=33219

Common law marriages go back to the medieval times in Europe, were later referred to as clandestine marriages, and now are referred to as domestic partnerships. They can be dissolved only by legal divorce proceedings (in a court of law) and not informally as they began. When the couple splits property has to be legally divided, pensions may have to be shared, and similar financial decisions are made under law?

Out of interest, why are people so afraid of getting married?

Speaking only for the US - and it may in fact be that India is gravitating in this direction as traditions wear away.

The cost of divorce ruins both parties to a marriage beyond the point of recovery. Some people reason, "Better not to marry in the first place than to risk economic ruin later on."
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=33219

Other people have the untested idea that the emotional entanglements of marriage are greater than cohabitation, and that it is easier to back out. The facts on the ground may make this belief questionable.

In the end many people do not learn through logic or from the experiences of others and continue to believe both.

Surely going into a relationship with the attitude of a get out clause or what if it doesn't last is biasing towards failure anyway! Any relationship is compromise. Maybe I'm simplifying things but from what I observe, it seems a lot of problems arise as people aren't willing to compromise and work things out together. This attitude of not making a commitment is adding to that psychologically

Hon'ble SPNAdminji,
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/l...#ixzz0xFOqOvBk
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=33219
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=33219
Sorry for replying you later. Under Indian law there is no such provision of getting status of a wife even if the couple had been in relation and had been cohabiting quite a number of years. The relationship will not be considered and will not get the status of legality.
I have provided the link to your queries as you have described the query from medieval times in Europe. Yeah in India the couple those live together are treated by the society as clandestine married couple but in the eyes of law it is not like that. There relationships have not been dissolved with legal divorce proceedings because in the eyes of law they are not considered husband and wife.
You will be astonished to know that the wife in India usually don't get the share of property in divorce cases. For maintenance the divorced wife gets not more than 10% of the income of the husband. In nutshell the law is pro-husbands at the time of divorce if married legally.
Rajneesh Madhok

Laws in country are made to accomadate majority of population and their customs.Wives in India don't get share in husband's property because much
of the property in India is ancestral which is passed from son to son.A daughter is given dowry that is legally called streedhan and at the time of divorce A husband have to return it

as far as alimony is concerned there is no law that state women cannot get more than 10%

http://www.indidivorce.com/alimony-in-india.html

Due to the explosion of the call centres and growth in the IT field, many youngsters have become independent and work away from home. This has created a financial and sexual freedom for the young. The fear factor of elders or so called shame are dissipating slowly. There is a sexual revolution in India like never before, just like the one happened in the west in the 60's during the hippie era. The only difference is that most hippies were poor and dependent on their rich parents. In India, a new class of middle class is emerging from what used to be the lower income sector. At work romance with married people or other singles are not very uncommon but to the contrary. Due to this freedom and money in the pocket, the moral values have become diluted in this new self discovery of independence. Drinking and smoking have become mode de jour among the young of both sexes even many turbans wearing visible Sikhs smoke. Hookah lounges are sprouting up and many turban wearing Sikhs visit them. Abortion is legal in India so this helps more in this juggernaut of the sexual revolution. We will find a lot more people living in and many married people of both sexes having affairs outside the marriage than ever before.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=33219

And as the song by The Carpenters would suggest, "We only just begun"....

Tejwant singh ji

The number of people working in Call centers and IT fields are still very small compare to Indian population.The concept of live in relatioinship still exist on paper for majority.My brother has just joined and he told me that almost every person in his company is very much traditional.Some Girls do have B/Fs
but they don't have physical relationship with them.One Girl Who is my brother's best friend ,it takes 2 years to tell her that her parents are divorced and only on that condition that my brother will not tell this to anybody as She will become subject of gossip in class.So there is hardly any way one can compare India What happened in USA in 60s or 70s.