He walked away after 15 years and married someone else: SC says live-in breakup not a crime

The Supreme Court on Monday said it cannot treat the end of a live-in relationship as a criminal offence, even if one partner walks away after many years. The court made the observation while hearing a case of a woman who claimed her partner left her after 15 years and later married someone else, a TOI report stated.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan said the relationship in question was consensual, and therefore criminal charges like sexual harassment or exploitation could not be applied.

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“There was a consensual relationship and a child was born. Once he walks out, it is not a criminal offence. Where is the question of an offence when the relationship was consensual?” the bench said.

A long relationship, a sudden end

The case came from a woman who said she had lived with the man for over a decade and had a child with him. She approached the court after he allegedly left her and married another woman.

Her lawyer argued that she had entered the relationship under a promise of marriage. He also told the court that she was only 18 and a widow when she met the man, and that he had married multiple times.

Court refuses criminal angle, points to legal limits

The judges, however, did not examine those claims in detail. They said the court cannot convert a consensual relationship into a criminal matter just because it ended.

“We can only sympathise with your client; she got fooled or whatever. She went with him, had a child, and lived with him for 15 years,” the bench said.

The court also raised questions about the nature of such relationships, noting that there is no formal legal binding in a live-in arrangement.

“Why did she go and live with him before marriage? They could have married. Now she is saying sexual assault,” the bench told her lawyer.

Relief limited to child support

While refusing to allow criminal proceedings, the court said the woman has the option to seek maintenance for her eight-year-old child. It acknowledged that the child was born from the relationship and that financial support could be claimed.

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On the lawyer’s request, the bench agreed to consider mediation, but only on the issue of maintenance. A notice was issued for that limited purpose.

The ruling underlines a key legal position: courts may show sympathy in such cases, but they cannot stretch criminal law to cover the breakdown of a consensual live-in relationship. At most, civil remedies like maintenance for a child may be pursued.