Archive · 6 Aug 2026
Supreme Court extends cruelty safeguards to live-in partners
The Supreme Court of India made an important new rule to help protect women who live with their partners without being married.
These relationships are called live-in relationships.
The court said that if a live-in relationship is a lot like a marriage, the woman should get the same legal protection from cruelty as a married woman.
This means a partner who hurts her can face criminal charges.
The court said it does not matter that there was no formal wedding ceremony.
What matters is whether the couple genuinely intended to marry.
There is already a civil law, called the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, that helps women in live-in relationships.
Now they can also get help from criminal law.
This is important because many women in India experience violence from their partners.
The court's decision was welcomed as a long-overdue step to protect women.
The Supreme Court ruled that criminal protection against domestic cruelty applies to women in live-in relationships that are 'in the nature of marriage.'
The ruling covers Section 498A of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code and its equivalent, Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The protection applies where the relationship is founded on a genuine intent to marry.
Women in live-in relationships already had recourse to civil remedies under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.
The recent NFHS found that over 22 per cent of ever-married women in India have experienced physical, sexual or emotional violence from partners.
- Who
- The Supreme Court of India, women in live-in relationships, and an accused partner who sought to quash criminal proceedings
- What
- The Court extended criminal law protection against domestic cruelty to women in live-in relationships that are 'in the nature of marriage'
- When
- Not specified in the article
- Where
- India
- Why
- To bring criminal law in step with evolving social realities and ensure legal protection responds to the substance of intimate relationships rather than their form
Expanded criminal protection
Restricted application of cruelty law
Criminal cruelty law and live-in relationships
Expanded criminal protection
Women in live-in relationships 'in the nature of marriage' should receive criminal law protection against cruelty; abuse is not less devastating because a relationship lacks formal solemnisation.
Restricted application of cruelty law
Because the accused was already married, the relationship could not amount to a valid marriage and therefore should not attract the offence of cruelty.
- Court
- Supreme Court of India
- Legal provisions
- Section 498A of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code and Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita
- Applicability
- Live-in relationships 'in the nature of marriage' with a genuine intent to marry
- Civil remedy
- Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005
- Domestic violence statistic
- Over 22% of ever-married women experienced physical, sexual or emotional violence from partners, per the recent NFHS
- Accused's argument
- He was already married, so the relationship could not amount to a valid marriage and could not attract the offence of cruelty