PIL In Supreme Court Seeks Mandatory Registration Of Live-In Relationships. So…Basically Marriage?
Logic kidhar hai?
The anti-live-in relationship trope is witnessing growth ever since the Shraddha Walker murder case. Over the past few months, we’ve all been hearing people attack live-in relationships citing Shraddha’s case where the girl was killed by her live-in partner who then chopped her body into 35 pieces and disposed it of in different areas across Delhi. And now, in an interesting turn of events, a PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court of India seeking mandatory registration for live-in relationships among other rules and guidelines and guess what? The reason cited for this PIL is the rising crimes by live-in partners against their partners. Like that’s going to stop criminals…
As per media reports, Advocate Mamta Rani has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court seeking to frame rules and guidelines for live-in relationships and the registration of the same. In the petition, the advocate has submitted that the court has protected live-in relationships and partners and has passed several judgements which provide protection to live-in partners, men or women while adding that the Top Court has also protected the children born out of live-in relationships. Further, the PIL contended that since there are no rules or guidelines governing live-in relationships, the crimes being committed by live-in partners are on the rise including major crimes like rape and murder.
Also Read: Are Live-In Relationships Legal In India? Here’s Everything You Need To Know About Your Rights And Duties
The advocate also made reference to recent cases of crimes committed by live-in partners including the gruesome Shraddha Walker murder case. The petitioner claims that mandatory registration of live-in relationships would ensure that both parties would have adequate and accurate information about each other and the government will also have their information including their criminal history, marital status and other such details. Is it just me or does this sound exactly like marriage?
Further, the PIL filed in the Supreme Court seeks directions to the Central Government to frame laws for live-in relationships as well as create a database of all the couples in live-in relationships across the country by making registration mandatory. The petition argues that not Central Government not registering live-in relationships is a violation of Article 19 (freedom of expression) and Article 21 (protection of life and personal liberty) of the Indian Constitution. Erm, isn’t forcing couples to register consensual live-in relationships a violation of their personal liberty?
Also Read: Union Minister Says Educated Women Like Shraddha Walker In Live-In Relationships Responsible For Crime Rate
The PIL adds that there has also been a rise in false rape cases against men they claim to be in a live-in relationship with and to find out if a couple is in a live-in or not is difficult to verify due to lack of evidence and the same will be made easier if it is mandatory to register live-ins. It further claims that since the new generation had adopted live-in relationships, registering the same will allow the government to keep a check on couples in live-in relationships and discourage people who enter live-in relationships with ulterior motives.
TBH, I cannot even begin to explain everything that is wrong with this PIL. Firstly, I’m not against mandatory registration of live-in relationships provided it has an added advantage. Let’s see, firstly as per the NCRB report between 2017 and 2021, about 20 women are killed for dowry every day in our country. To add to this there’s the data about domestic violence which goes to show that intimate partner violence is not exclusive to live-in relationships and yet we’re quick to not just target but also vilify live-in relationships. If mandatory registration of marriage hasn’t stopped intimate partner violence, how is the mandatory registration of live-in relationships going to help?
Also Read: Hautetalk: Parents Will Use Delhi Murder Case As A Point To Demonise Live-In Relationships, But Conveniently Ignore The Violent Marital Cases
Allow me to enlighten you about the fact that live-in relationships are governed by laws like the protection against domestic violence and property succession act and other such laws. Further, to make live-in relationships just as legally binding as marriage makes it pointless. The whole point of opting for a live-in relationship is that it’s not legally binding and allows couples to practice free will. Also, people register their marriage, how has that helped government keep a check on people? Has it discouraged those with ulterior motives from getting married? I don’t think so. Speaking of crimes, marriage hasn’t stopped people from murdering their spouses or marital rape. So, honestly, I don’t really see how “mandatory registration” of live-in relationships is going to help couples except for increasing paperwork and legalities.
First Published: March 01, 2023 12:30 PMAllahabad HC Says Live-In Relationships Make It Difficult For Woman To Live Alone After Break Up
