Live-in relationship without dissolving previous marriage is bigamy, says high court

Divorce And Live-In Relationship: 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, observed the single judge bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Justice Kuldeep Tiwari dismissed the petition of a couple from Punjab who had sought protection of their lives and liberty. The couple has submitted a petition 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.

Further 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 court in its order said: 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.