Can Live-In Partners Claim Maintenance? Supreme Court Issues Notice in Section 125 CrPC Case

On Friday, 29 August, the Supreme Court issued a notice in a case where a man challenged the maintainability of a maintenance plea filed by his live-in partner under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

A Bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Prasanna B. Varale heard the man’s plea against a Kerala High Court ruling, which had upheld the woman’s right to seek maintenance.

The High Court had earlier observed that Section 125 CrPC is a welfare provision and does not demand strict proof of marriage. It said that when a couple has lived together for many years as husband and wife, the presumption is in favour of marriage, and denial of maintenance is not justified.

Before the Supreme Court, the man argued that a live-in partner cannot claim maintenance under Section 125 CrPC, and therefore the entire proceedings were invalid. The court, however, issued notice to the woman, seeking her reply within six weeks.

The question of whether long-term live-in relationships can be treated as marriages under Section 125 CrPC has been debated before. In Lalita Toppo v. State of Jharkhand (2015), the Supreme Court had referred this issue to a larger Bench. However, in 2018, a Bench led by then CJI Ranjan Gogoi declined to answer it, noting that live-in partners already have stronger remedies under the Domestic Violence Act, 2005.

Later, in Kamala v. M.R. Mohan Kumar, the Court upheld maintenance granted to a woman whose marital status was disputed, holding that strict proof of marriage is not necessary under Section 125 CrPC, which is meant to prevent destitution and protect women.

The present case is titled KP Raveendran Nair v. Vasantha KV.