The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that women in live-in relationships can seek protection under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) or Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), a TOI report stated. Both provisions punish a husband or his relatives with up to three years in jail for subjecting a woman to cruelty. A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and N K Singh said the protection will apply only to live-in relationships that are "in the nature of marriage."
The court rejected the argument that Section 498A applies only to women married in the traditional sense. It said the law was framed to address a social problem and must be read with that goal in mind. At the same time, the bench noted rising cases of misuse of the section and said a woman seeking its protection will first have to prove that her relationship was in the nature of marriage.
