India kerala

Living-in partners  neither wife nor husband

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. 

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