An allegation of a false promise of marriage is untenable when two adults have engaged in a live-in relationship for years, the Supreme Court has held.
The court said more women are entering into live-in relationships due to increasing financial freedom.
The judgement was based on an appeal filed by a man accused of having forcible sex with a woman he had entered into a settlement deed affirming their mutual love and intention to marry each other.
The Uttarakhand High Court had refused the man’s plea to quash the case, following which he moved the apex court.
“In our view, if two able-minded adults reside together as a live-in couple for more than a couple of years and cohabit with each other, a presumption would arise that they voluntarily chose that kind of a relationship fully aware of its consequences. Therefore, the allegation that such a relationship was entered into because there was a promise of marriage is in the circumstances unworthy of acceptance,” the court observed.
Moreover, the court reasoned, in a long drawn live-in relationship, occasions may arise where partners express their desire to marry.
“But that expression of desire, or wish, by itself would not be indicative of relationship being a consequence of that expression of desire or wish,” the court noted.
Also read: The problem of regulating live-in relationships
A decade or two earlier, live-in relationships might not have been common, the court said.
“But now more and more women are financially independent and have the capacity to take conscious decision of charting their life on their own terms. This financial freedom, inter alia, has led to proliferation of such live-in relationships. Therefore, when a matter of this nature comes to a court, it must not adopt a pedantic approach,” the court said.
Rather, the court may, based on the length of such relationship and conduct of the parties, presume implied consent of the parties to be in such a relationship.
Published – May 12, 2025 11:14 pm IST
