By our Correspondent
Kochi, July 17 (IVC) The Honorable High Court of Kerala has ruled that the male partner in a live-in relationship cannot be prosecuted for the offence of ‘cruelty to wife’ under the Indian Penal Code, as they were not legally married.
The bench of Justice A Badharudeen made this decision while allowing a petition filed by a native of Ernakulam seeking to quash a case under Section 498A of the IPC (Husband or the relative of the husband of a woman , subjects such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall be liable to fine) and the court proceedings.
The de facto complainant in the case alleged that she was subjected to cruelty by her male partner in a live-in relationship in 2023. Koyilaandy police registered a case based on the complain and filed the report in the judicial first-class magistrate court, Koyilandy . Subsequently the petitioner approached the High Court seeking to quash the case.
While considering the petition, the single bench emphasized that under Section 498A, to constitute an offence , the most essential ingredient is subjecting a woman to cruelty by her husband or the relatives of the husband. The term ‘husband’ means a married man, a woman’s partner in marriage. Thus , the marriage is the constituent that elevates the woman’s partner to her husband’s status . If a man becomes a woman’s partner , without legal marriage, he would not be converted by the term ‘husband’, and the offence of cruelty towards the wife will not be applicable in such cases, the bench clarified.