Legal status for live-in : NCW allays bigamy fears

Written by changthai11 on Monday, October 20th, 2008

Legal status for live-in : NCW allays bigamy fears

20 Oct 2008, TNN

NEW DELHI: Criticism over Maharashtra government’s proposal to treat a live-in relationship at par with a legal one has prompted the National Commission for Women (NCW) to allay fears that the government was trying to legalize bigamy.

The law, if cleared, would apply to a single person, unmarried or divorced. But there has been criticism from
various quarters that the proposed legislation would promote bigamy and trample the rights of the legal wife and children
.

NCW chairperson Girija Vyas said, “We feel that the law should clearly define a person in a long-term relationship so that this clause is not misused.”

The commission has set up a panel to examine the change in law as recommended by the state government. Maharashtra cabinet recently moved a proposal to amend the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) that will give a person in a live-in relationship over a “long period of time” right to demand alimony. They have sought permission from the Centre to introduce this as a state statute.

Clearing apprehensions, the NCW said both the wife and the mistress were victims in case the man was married. “In that case, provisions under the Domestic Violence Act would come in. There is no provision for maintenance if the man is married,” Vyas said.
There are certain lacunae in bringing in such a law because it has not been spelt out whether a woman is entitled to alimony in case she was kept in the dark about the man’s marriage.