The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed as hair-brained a PIL which was filed seeking mandatory registration of live-in relationships as there are “no rules and guidelines covering such partnerships”.
A bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, and Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala, wondered if the petitioner wanted to prevent live-in relationships on the pretext of protecting them.
Irked by the petition that “people come with anything” to the apex court, Justice Chandrachud asked: “Registration with whom? The central government? What does the central government have to do with people living in live-in relationships? Are you trying to foster the care, the security of these people or trying to prevent them from getting into live in relationships?”
“ It is high time this court start imposing cost on petitioners who file these kinds of PILs,” Justice Chandrachud observed, before dismissing it as “just a hair-brained petition”.
Citing an increase in rape and murder, lawyer Mamta Rani filed the plea last month that sought a direction to the Centre to frame rules for registration of live-in relationships. She referred to the recent case of Shraddha Walkar murder case who was killed by her live-in partner Aaftab Amin Poonawala.
According to the petitioner, a registration of such a relationship would inform the partners about each other and also the government about their “marital status, criminal history” and other details.