D. Velusamy v. D. Patchaiammal

Facts

The respondent claimed maintenance under Section 125 CrPC asserting she married the appellant in 1986; the appellant pleaded an earlier subsisting marriage to one Lakshmi (1980). The courts below held him married to the respondent without issuing notice to Lakshmi. The Supreme Court found that finding void for breach of natural justice and examined the case both under Section 125 and the Domestic Violence Act, 2005.

Issues

• Whether the respondent could be treated as 'wife' for Section 125 CrPC
• What constitutes a 'relationship in the nature of marriage' under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005

Arguments

Appellant: he was already married to Lakshmi, so any later marriage was void and the respondent was not his 'wife' under Section 125. The respondent did not appear; an amicus assisted the Court on the legal questions.

Held

A divorced wife is included in 'wife' under Section 125 but a woman never validly married cannot claim, so the finding (made without hearing Lakshmi) had to be set aside and remanded. Examining the 2005 Act, the Court held that a 'relationship in the nature of marriage' is akin to a common-law marriage: the couple must hold themselves out as spouses, be of marriageable age, be otherwise qualified to marry (including being unmarried), and have voluntarily cohabited in a shared household for a significant period. A mere 'keep' or weekend/one-night relationship does not qualify, and the matter was remanded for findings on these tests.

Ratio decidendi

Maintenance under Section 125 requires a valid (or once-valid then divorced) marriage; benefit under the 2005 Act requires a 'relationship in the nature of marriage' satisfying common-law-marriage conditions including cohabitation in a shared household.

Significance

Leading authority defining 'relationship in the nature of marriage' and the limits of palimony/live-in maintenance in India; widely cited though its 'unmarried partner' precondition (excluding women duped by married men) has been read down by later benches (e.g. Indra Sarma v. V.K.V. Sarma, (2013) 15 SCC 755).

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