Soaring Wings

A scene from the film 'Salaam Namaste' in which Preity Zinta and Saif Ali Khan play a live-in couple.

New Delhi: A partner in a live-in relationship can walk out of it without any legal consequence and people cannot complain of infidelity of partners if one of them ditches the other, the Delhi High Court said on Monday.

“Live-in relationship is a walk-in and walk-out relationship. There are no strings attached to this relationship nor does this relationship creates any legal bond between the parties,” Justice S N Dhingra said while quashing criminal proceedings initiated by a woman against her live-in partner after he refused to marry her.

“People who chose to have 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 married woman and unmarried man,” the court said.

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 live-in relationship, seeking to quash proceeding 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 FIR should be quashed to prevent misuse of criminal justice system for personal vengeance of a partner of live-in relationship.

“It is a contract of living together which is renewed everyday by the parties and can be terminated by either of the parties without 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.
PTI