Lustful, Adulterous Life”: Court On Married Man Living With Another Woman

Chandigarh: 

The Punjab and Haryana High court has held that a man living a “lustful and adulterous life” with a woman without divorcing his spouse cannot be called a “live-in-relationship” or “relationship” in the nature of marriage.

The single judge bench of Justice Kuldeep Tiwari dismissed the petition of a couple from Punjab who had sought protection of their lives and liberty.

The petitioners submitted that they have been in a “live-in relationship” which has caused grievance to the woman’s family members who have threatened to kill them.

During the hearing, the court observed the woman in the “live-in-relationship” was unmarried while the man was married and had been living separately from his wife due to strained relations.

The man in the “live-in-relationship” has two children with his wife and they live with their mother.

“Without obtaining any valid decree of divorce from his earlier spouse and during the subsistence of his earlier marriage, the petitioner No.2 (man in live-in relationship) is living a lustful and adulterous life with the petitioner No.1 (woman in live-in relationship), which may constitute an offence punishable under Sections 494/495 of the IPC, as such a relationship does not fall within the phrase of ‘live-in relationship’ or ‘relationship’ in the nature of marriage,” the court said in its order.