The Supreme Court of India has received a Public Interest Lawsuit that aims to provide norms and criteria for the registration of live-in partnerships in India. Attorney Mamta Rani filed the suit, which asks the central government to issue guidelines for the registration of live-in partnerships. 

In the petition, it is claimed:

"Time and again this Hon’ble Court has been the protector of the live-in partners and has passed numerous number of judgments which is having the effect of giving protection to the members of the live-in partnership be it the women, men or even the children born out of such relationship."

It claims that because there are no laws or regulations governing live-in relationships, there has been a sharp rise in crimes committed by such relationships, including serious offences like rape and murder. In this regard, the petition makes reference to recent incidents in which live-in spouses are accused of killing women, notably the Shraddha Walkar case.

The PIL asks the Central Government to work on creating a data base to determine the precise number of persons involved in live-in relationships in our nation in addition to asking for the enactment of legislation relating to such partnerships. It contends that the same can only be accomplished by mandating live-in partnership registration. 

The petition claims that the Central Government is in violation of Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution since it has not registered live-in partnerships. 

It adds—

"There has been a huge increase in the false rape cases being filed by the women wherein the women claims to be living in live-in relationships with the accused and it is always difficult for the Courts to find out from the evidence whether the fact of living in live-in relationship is proved by the backing of evidence. Registration of live-in relationships will work as a vital evidence to prove whether the fact of live-in relationship is correct or not...Looking at the fast paced life and the choice of young generation to adopt the western culture, proper registration of live-in relationships will keep a check on those who are entering into live-in relationship with an ulterior motive."