Know your rights against each other!
In India, any relationship except marriage between a man and a woman is deemed illicit. This is because marriage is considered to be the only legal relationship that gives the right of cohabitation to a couple.
Therefore, keeping in mind the societal innuendos one must be acquainted with certain important laws available to couples outside the 'holy matrimony'.
Live-in, stigma-out.
The Supreme Court of India recently declared that if a couple is in love and want to live together then that is part of the right to life and not a 'crime' thereby legalising live-in relationships.
Pre-marital sex is not illegal. So, CHILL!
Pre-marital sex is not illegal in India if the age of participating parties is over 16 years of age. However, convincing someone to have sex with you over the pretext of marriage is a crime if proved in the court of law.
No touching in public.
Public display of affection like kissing and hugging is a criminal offence under Section 294 of the Indian Penal Code and therefore, annoying others through 'obscene acts' is punishable with imprisonment which may extend to 3 months or a fine, or even both.
You hit, I'll hit back harder!
This Act was brought to protect women from verbal, physical, economic as well as mental abuse in a marriage. However, under Section 2(f), the Act not only applies to a married couple, but also to a 'relationship in the nature of marriage'. Therefore, keeping in mind all this even the Apex Court in a lot of cases has included live-in relationships to be covered within the scope of the Act.
Pay me my dues.
The maintenance right has been made available to wives under all personal laws of India. However, none of the religions acknowledges or welcome live-in relationships. And as no relief is available to women involved in a live-in relationship, Judiciary has pro-actively widened the ambit of maintenance under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). Thus, Section 125 of the CrPC has been provided to give a legal right of maintenance to both married/unmarried women.
Say YES to inter-caste/inter-religion marriage.
Special Marriage Act quite literally serves as a holy book for couples intending to get married belonging to different religions.
Children born out of non-matrimonial relationships are legitimate.
There have been a couple of judgments where the Court has specifically stated that children born out of non-matrimonial relationships are legitimate. For instance, in one of the Supreme Court's judgments, the Court said if a couple is living together in a home and have been cohabiting for a few years, then under Section 114 of the Evidence Act there will be a presumption that they live as husband and wife and the children born in the relationship will be legitimate.
The original writer of the article is Vanita Bhatnagar, a lawyer by profession. If you need any kind of legal advice, here's the site you should visit.
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