What Is A Live-in Relationship? Karnataka High Court Says ‘Cruelty Under Section 498A IPC Applies Even In Such Cases’- Explained (Image Credit: AI)
Live-in Relationship: A live-in relationship is a modern arrangement in which two partners choose to live together without entering a formal marriage. It allows couples to share a home, build emotional intimacy, and navigate day-to-day responsibilities while still retaining their individuality and personal freedom.
Many couples opt for live-in relationships for different reasons. For some, it is a way to understand compatibility before committing to marriage. Others prefer the independence it offers and wish to avoid the legal and societal obligations that come with formal unions. This setup gives partners the time and space to understand each other deeply before making long-term decisions.
The growing acceptance of live-in relationships reflects a changing outlook on love, partnership, and commitment. As more couples embrace this choice, it highlights a desire for emotional connection paired with flexibility and autonomy. While live-ins come with challenges, such as legal ambiguity and lingering social stigma, clear communication, respect, and mutual understanding can help build a stable, meaningful, and fulfilling relationship within this evolving framework.
The Karnataka High Court has clarified that Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, which punishes cruelty by a husband or his relatives, can extend to “live-in relationships” and even “void or voidable marriages.”
In an order passed on November 18, Justice Suraj Govindaraj observed that the term “husband” is not restricted to a legally wedded man but also includes anyone in a marriage-like relationship, including live-in arrangements. The court emphasized that one can be booked and tried under Section 498A now replaced by Sections 85 and 86 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita provided the essential elements of cruelty are established.
“I hold that the expression ‘husband’ in Section 498A IPC is not confined to a man in a legally valid marriage, but extends to one who enters into a marital relationship which is void or voidable, as also to a live-in relationship which bears the attributes of marriage, so long as the essential ingredients of cruelty as defined in the explanation to the section are satisfied,” the high court stated.
The court made these observations while hearing a petition by a man seeking quashing of a case filed by his second wife. The complaint alleged that the petitioner, who already had a subsisting marriage and a daughter, married another woman in 2010. This second relationship ended in 2016, after which the second wife filed a complaint under Section 498A, accusing him of cruelty, dowry demands, and physical abuse. She also claimed that the petitioner had hidden his first marriage.
The petitioner argued that since the complainant was not his legally wedded wife, Section 498A could not apply. His counsel, Advocate Harsha Kumar Gowda, stated that the arrangement with the complainant was at best a “live-in relationship” and that the section applies only to legally valid marriages.
The high court, however, disagreed with this argument. It stated that Section 498A is a “remedial, socially beneficial safeguard meant to uphold women’s dignity and safety.” Quashing the proceedings would unjustly benefit a man who concealed his existing marriage and misled a woman into a void relationship, the court noted.
“A man who leads a woman to believe she is legally married to him, and then subjects her to cruelty, cannot avoid liability simply because the marriage is void in law,” the court said.
The court further highlighted that the petitioner and the complainant lived together with all the characteristics of a marriage. Such a “relationship in the nature of marriage” or a “live-in relationship” falls within the scope of Section 498A, provided the cruelty allegations are proven.
Justice Govindaraj emphasized the importance of the relationship’s substance over its legal validity, “If a couple lives as husband and wife and the woman faces cruelty, she cannot be denied protection simply because the man hid his existing marriage. Section 498A aims to address social wrongdoing and must be interpreted liberally, especially when the woman believed the marriage was valid, and the man alone knew it was void and now seeks to escape liability.”
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