Recently Supreme Court came out with an interesting take on live-in relations setting moral standards of the society
“The Supreme Court has validated long live-in relationships as marriages. And the children born out of such ‘liaisons’ will no more be called ‘nullius filius’ or ‘by-blow’. They will enjoy the same status as that of any kid born after a marriage.”
The Law Commission soon there after came up with recommendations to change the marriageable age of males
“For the first time in the history of India, a child marriage involving a bride or groom below the age of 16 will be illegal.”
Without getting into the nitty gritty of provisions of law the first thought which comes to mind is fixing the minimum age of marriage is a wasted idea as the couple will anyway get the status of husband and wife after fulfilling the conditions of live-in relations e.g.
- Cohabit together for a long period
- Be known in society as husband and wife
- Leave no evidence to allow anyone to rebut their relationship
The next thought comes to mind is that the couple having married before 16 and having survived for a “long period” should anyway be given this status.
However this future subversion of law should be addressed now and not be winked at because it will result in
1. Immature persons marrying and psychological consequences following
2. greater chances of biological complications
3. weak offspring’s with life long disabilities in tow
In conclusion live in relations like marriages should have a date of manufacture (minimum age of live-in) prescribed or no status according (live-ins before age 16 or 18 declared null and void for future) otherwise the main objective of Law Panel recommendations will be wasted.
But the Obvious! 