Supreme Court Rejects "Hare-Brained" Idea of Registering Live-In Relationships
The petition filed by lawyer Mamta Rani seeking a directive to the Centre to establish regulations for the registration of live-in relationships was dismissed by a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Monday. The plea had cited an alleged increase in rape and murder crimes committed by live-in partners and had referred to the recent killing of Shraddha Walkar.
Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, heading the bench, derided the PIL as a "hare-brained" concept and inquired whether the petitioner wished to foster the security of these couples or deter them from entering into live-in relationships. The counsel replied that the petitioner desired the relationship to be registered to bolster their social security.
Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala, who comprised the rest of the bench, questioned the relevance of the Centre's involvement in the registration of live-in relationships and emphasized the need to impose costs on petitioners who file such PILs. The petition was subsequently dismissed.
The petitioner had requested the formulation of rules and guidelines for the registration of such relationships and submitted that it would lead to more precise information being accessible to both live-in partners concerning each other and also to the government regarding their marital status, criminal history and other pertinent details.
