Keywords: Kerala High Court, live-in-relationships, divorce, couple.
The Kerala High Court has recently made an observation regarding the legal recognition of live-in relationships. According to the court, live-in relationships are not considered marriages under the law. Specifically, when two individuals choose to live together based solely on an agreement and without adhering to any personal law or the Special Marriage Act, they cannot claim their relationship to be a marriage or seek divorce.
A division bench comprising Justices A. Muhamed Mustaque and Sophy Thomas has noted that live-in relationships are yet to be legally recognized. The court emphasizes that legal recognition is granted to a relationship only if the marriage is solemnized in accordance with personal law or secular laws such as the Special Marriage Act.
The Kerala High Court has ruled that divorce is only applicable to legally recognized marriages and not to live-in relationships. The court emphasized that live-in relationships may be acknowledged for other purposes, but they are not recognized for the purpose of seeking a divorce. The court made this determination while hearing an appeal from a couple who were in a live-in relationship and had approached the Family Court for a divorce under the Special Marriage Act.
The couple, one being Hindu and the other Christian, had entered into a registered agreement in February 2006 to live together. They lived as a married couple for an extended period and even had a child together. However, they later decided to separate and sought a mutual divorce under the Special Marriage Act by filing a joint petition in the Family Court.
The Family Court denied their request for divorce, citing the fact that they were not married under the provisions of the Special Marriage Act. Unsatisfied with this decision, the couple appealed to the High Court.
The couple’s counsel argued that since both parties had accepted their relationship as a marriage through their declaration, it was not within the court’s purview to decide whether they were legally married or not.
In response, the High Court stated that when a couple chooses to live together based solely on an agreement and without conforming to any personal law or the Special Marriage Act, they cannot claim it to be a marriage or seek a divorce.
Recognizing that the Family Court lacks jurisdiction to entertain such a claim for divorce, the High Court directed the Family Court to return the petition as not maintainable.
The appellants in the case were represented by advocates Dhanya P Ashokan, MR Venugopal, and S Muhammad Alikhan,
Written By- Muskan Vyas, Legal Journalist under Legal Vidhiya
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