Rights of woman under live in relation if the woman gets pregnant

575 votes

Dear Client,
The parents must file a criminal case against the person who got intimacy with the girl for cheating and other allied sections under Indian Penal Code. Case must be proved against the culprit beyond any reasonable doubt to the satisfaction of the court by producing medical proofs like gene testing etc.,

Advocate Sistla Rama Krishna LawRato

697 votes

Hi
The child has all the rights to claim maintenance, share of property of the father, grand father etc.
The girl can file the case against the partner for cheating and breach of trust.
A girl in live in relationship can challenge the subsequent marriage also, if she has reason to believe that she was leading a marital life with the partner.

Advocate Rajagopalan LawRato

986 votes

Hello,

In one of its landmark judgments, recently, Supreme Court has held that a woman living in a live-in relationship will be considered to be wife, unless otherwise is proven.
In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court has has ruled that an unmarried couple living together under the same roof are now going to be presumed married, and the woman would be eligible to inherit any legal property after death of her partner.
According to this Times of Indiareport, a two-judge bench of Justices MY Eqbal and Amitava Roy, said in the case of couples living together marriage would be until proven otherwise.

The bench reportedly said, "It is well settled that the law presumes in favour of marriage and against concubinage, when a man and woman have cohabited continuously for a long time. However, the presumption can be rebutted by leading unimpeachable evidence. A heavy burden lies on a party who seeks to deprive the relationship of legal origin." The order came in response to a property dispute where a family contested that their grandfather was not legally wedded to a woman he had lived with for 20 years and that she was his mistress, despite living in the joint family with them.

The court passed the order in a property dispute where family members contested that their grandfather, who was living with a woman for 20 years after his wife's death, was not legally wedded to the woman and she was not entitled to inherit the property after his death. They contended that she was their grandfather's mistress.

Despite the woman failing to prove that she was legally wedded, the court presumed that she was the legal wife after family members admitted that his grandfather had a relationship with the woman who was living with them in the joint family.

In addition to the above, the Domestic Violence Act, 2005 also provides protection to women living in live- in relationship and accord them the position of a wife.

There are many more judgments by the Supreme Court for protecting the rights of a female who has been in a live- in relationship.

A child born out of a live- in relationship will be a legitimate child.

Giving an important clarification on live-in relationships, the Supreme Court has said that if a man and woman "lived like husband and wife" for a long period and had children, the judiciary would presume that the two were married.

A bench of Justices B S Chauhan and J Chelameswar on Monday issued the clarification on a petition filed by advocate Uday Gupta, who had questioned certain sweeping observations made by the Madras high court while dealing with the issue of live-in relationships. Importantly, the SC said children born out of prolonged live-in relationships could not be termed illegitimate.

Gupta had challenged the HC's observation that "a valid marriage does not necessarily mean that all the customary rights pertaining to the married couple are to be followed and subsequently solemnized.

His counsel, M R Calla, sought deletion of the HC's observations terming them as untenable in law. He apprehended that these remarks could demolish the very institution of marriage. The bench went through the judgment and said the HC's observations could not be construed as a precedent for other cases and would be confined to the case in which these were made.

Justices Chauhan and Chelameswar said,"In fact, what the HC wanted to say is that if a man and woman are living together for a long time as husband and wife, though never married, there would a presumption of marriage and their children could not be called illegitimate."

In 2010, the apex court had in Madan Mohan Singh vs Rajni Kant case said, "The courts have consistently held that the law presumes in favour of marriage and against concubinage, when a man and woman have cohabited continuously for a number of years. However, such presumption can be rebutted by leading unimpeachable evidence."

The same year, the court had in another judgment hinted at the legitimacy of children born out of such relations. "It is evident that Section 16 of the Hindu Marriage Act intends to bring about social reforms, conferment of social status of legitimacy on a group of children, otherwise treated as illegitimate, as its prime object."

Section 16 of Hindu Mariage Act provides,"Notwithstanding that a marriage is null and void under Section 11, any child of such marriage who would have been legitimate if the marriage had been valid, shall be legitimate, whether such a child is born before or after the commencement of the Marriage Laws (Amendment) Act, 1976, and whether or not a decree of nullity is granted in respect of the marriage under this Act and whether or not the marriage is held to be void otherwise than on a petition under this Act."

Therefore, there are many laws existing in favour of the girl if the girl would like to proceed legally against the man. Feel free to contact me for any clarification.

Advocate B. Srikiran LawRato