LIVE-IN RELATIONSHIPS IN INDIA: BETWEEN SOCIAL MORALITY AND LEGAL PROTECTION

Indian family law has long assumed that intimate life begins with marriage. Yet many couples live together without marrying, and courts have had to decide what rights they and their children should have. This paper traces how Indian courts moved from explaining cohabitation away through the presumption of marriage to accepting it as a lawful choice that deserves some protection. It examines the constitutional foundations of that shift, including Articles 14, 19 and 21, the statutory hooks that allow relief, notably the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 and the maintenance provisions of the criminal procedure code, and the position of children. It then compares the approaches of England and Wales, Scotland and Australia and considers the registration regime introduced in Uttarakhand. The paper argues that Indian law protects partners according to how closely a relationship resembles marriage and not according to need, dependence and care, producing uneven outcomes. It concludes that legislation built on vulnerability and contribution, with strong privacy safeguards, is preferable to continued judicial improvisation.