PIL Seeking Mandatory Registration Of Live-In Relationships Filed In Supreme Court, Cites Increase In Crimes By Live-In Partners

A Public Interest Litigation seeking to frame rules and guidelines for registration of live-in partnerships in India has been filed in the Supreme Court of India. The petition has been filed by Advocate Mamta Rani, and prays for a direction for the Central Government to formulate rules for registration of Live-in relationships. 

The petition contends that–

"Time and again this Hon’ble Court has been the protector of the live-in partners and has passed numerous number of judgments which is having the effect of giving protection to the members of the live-in partnership be it the women, men or even the children born out of such relationship."

It submits that since there are no rules and guidelines covering live-in partnerships, there has been a vast increase in the crimes by the live-in partners including major crimes like rape and murder. In this context, the petition refers to recent cases where women got allegedly killed by their live-in partners, including the Shraddha Walkar case.

According to the petitioner, the registration of live-in relationship would lead in accurate information being available to both the live-in partners about each other and also to the Government about each of them regarding their marital status, their criminal history and other relevant details.

The PIL not only seeks for framing laws related to live-in relationships but also seeks a direction to the Central Government to work on getting a data base for finding out the exact number of people involved in live-in relationship in our country. It argues that the same can only be achieved by making registration of live-in partnership mandatory.

As per the petition, the Central Government’s failure to register live-in partnerships is in violation of Article 19 and Article 21 of Constitution.

It adds–

"There has been a huge increase in the false rape cases being filed by the women wherein the women claims to be living in live-in relationships with the accused and it is always difficult for the Courts to find out from the evidence whether the fact of living in live-in relationship is proved by the backing of evidence. Registration of live-in relationships will work as a vital evidence to prove whether the fact of live-in relationship is correct or not...Looking at the fast paced life and the choice of young generation to adopt the western culture, proper registration of live-in relationships will keep a check on those who are entering into live-in relationship with an ulterior motive."