The Supreme Court rules that Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code can cover cruelty in live-in relationships that are akin to marriage. Multiple reports state that the court says the law must adapt to changing social realities and provide protection against harassment and domestic cruelty, even where the partners are not legally married. The court lays out that Section 498A does not automatically apply to every live-in relationship. Instead, a woman seeking protection must establish that the relationship is in the nature of marriage, including that an intent to marry is an intrinsic part of the relationship.
The decision also addresses arguments raised by a respondent in a case involving allegations of cruelty and dowry-related harassment. The respondent contends that, because his earlier marriage was still legally valid, the later marriage or marriage-like arrangement was void and therefore he could not be treated as a “husband” for the purposes of Section 498A. The Supreme Court upholds the broader approach used by lower courts for relationships resembling marriage, while adding the qualifying requirement of intent to marry. The focus of the ruling is whether the relationship resembles a marriage in substance, not only in legal form.
