Women Entitled to Maintenance: Madhya Pradesh High Court Rules on Breakup After Live-in Relationship

In a ruling recognising the rights of women in a live-in relationship, the Madhya Pradesh High Court said a woman living with a man for a considerable period is entitled to maintenance upon separation, even if they are not legally married.

According to an NDTV report, the Madhya Pradesh HC delivered the judgement while hearing a case of a petitioner who challenged a trial court order requiring him to pay a monthly allowance of Rs 1,500 to a woman with whom he had been in a live-in relationship.

The HC emphasised that maintenance cannot be denied if there is “evidence of cohabitation” between the couple and cited the trial court’s finding, which concluded that the man and woman had been living as husband and wife.

The court further ruled that the birth of a child within the relationship cemented the woman’s right to monthly maintenance.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court’s significant judgement highlights the involvement of a legal landscape regarding live-in relationships in India. In February this year, Uttarakhand brought a uniform civil code, one of the sections of which made registration of live-in relationships mandatory.

The Allahabad High Court, while hearing a bail application in February 2024, in a case of false promise of marriage and rape, observed that it was difficult for women to live alone after breakup in a live-in relationship.

The bench of Justice Siddhartha said, “It is difficult for a woman to live alone after breaking of live-in relationship. The Indian society at large does not recognise such relationships as acceptable. The woman, therefore, is left with no option but to lodge a First Information Report against her live-in partner, like in the present case.”

The bail application was moved by a man against whom a woman had filed a case under Sections 376 and 406 of the Indian Penal Code. The victim had alleged that the accused was in a live-in relationship with her for one-and-a-half years during which she got pregnant. However, he later refused to marry her.