Protection to Mistresses and Live-in Partners

Holding that a mistress or a live-in partner is to be treated at par with a wife under the Domestic Violence Act, 2005, a Bench of the Delhi High Court comprising Justices Vikramjit Sen and P K Bhasin has said:

We find no reason why equal treatment should not be accorded to a wife as well as a woman who has been living with a man as his common-law wife or even as a mistress.

Like treatment to both (wives and mistress) does not, in any manner, derogate from the sanctity of marriage since an assumption can fairly be drawn that a live-in relationship is invariably initiated and perpetuated by the male.

In unfortunate and uncomfortable situations like these, if the protection given to unwedded women results in the diminution of funds available for maintenance of the legally wedded wives and the legitimate children, such diminution would not render the statute unconstitutional.

There is perception, not unfounded or unjustified, that the lot and fate of women in India is an abjectly dismal one…the argument that the Act is ultra vires the constitution because it accords protection only to women and not to men is, therefore, wholly devoid of any merit.

The court should also not be impervious to social stigma which always sticks to women and not to the men.