Supreme Court sets aside rights of live-in partner

PTI

New Delhi, 21 October 2010: The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside the high court verdict saying the man is not liable to pay for maintenance of his live-in partner.

 

A woman in a live-in relationship is not entitled to maintenance unless she fulfills certain parameters, the Supreme Court held on Thursday while observing that merely spending weekends together or a one-night stand would not make it a domestic relationship.

 

This ruling is in a case of maintenance demanded by a woman who was in a live-in relation with a married man for 14 years. High court had ordered that this woman be given maintenance against which he had approached the Apex court.

 

 

A bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and T S Thakur said that in order to get maintenance, a woman, even if not married, has to fulfill the following four requirements:

(1) The couple must hold themselves out to society as being akin to spouses.

(2) They must be of legal age to marry.

(3) They must be otherwise qualified to enter into a legal marriage including being unmarried.

(4) They must have voluntarily cohabited and held themselves out to the world as being akin to spouses for a significant period of time.