Relationship on legal crutches?

Man made relationships aren’t subservient to any law. So is the tendency to commit something that’s not acceptable in law. That’s why there is a usually cited adage: “marriages are made in heaven”.

And there is no denying the fact that there has been rising graph of broken marriages due to a variety of reasons including cruelty, dowry and incompatibility. It’s often said that divorce is another outcome of marriage, for no other relationship ends in a divorce, except perhaps the alignment between the UPA and the Left. Undoubtedly, live-in arrangements have been found to be more convenient for a section of society that believes in sharing so long as it’s not boring.

Whether the Maharashtra government’s proposal to legalise live-in associations gets the central government’s nod or not, there won’t be any adverse effect on the old, the new and the prospective makeshift relationships as law permits two adults to choose the way of their life.

The law, however, guarantees protection to women who have been subjected to criminality and also imposes a ban on dowry - before, during or after the marriage.
The recent amendments in some criminal enactments seek to do justice with women who complain of highhandedness by men. The Domestic Violence Act (DVA) is one piece of legislation that’s only women-specific and extends support to women who live in a house where she is subjected to criminality even by other women folks.

Unlike the marriage specific laws su3ch as Hindu Marriage Act, the DVA is relationship specific and can be invoked even by a harassed mother against her son or daughter or others. The uniqueness attached to the traditional relationship of marriage can’t be and shouldn’t be attached to the live-in relationships that too seem to have come to stay now.

Once a relationship starts looking up to legislation for support, it becomes unbearable. The prime concern for the live-in arrangements should be the welfare of the children born out of this bond. They must not be discriminated for their parents are not married.

b_rakesh@dnaindia.net