In a major judgement, the Madras High Court has held that prolonged cohabitation or cohabitation does not confer on the litigants the legal right to raise a matrimonial dispute before a family court, unless they are married in a lawful manner. A division bench of Justices S Vaidyanathan and R Vijayakumar gave the ruling, while dismissing an appeal from R Kalaiselvi of Coimbatore, on Tuesday.
Originally, Kalaiselvi had moved a Family Court in Coimbatore seeking restitution of conjugal rights under Section 32 of the Divorce Act 1869.But the Family Court rejected the plea on February 14, 2019, hence, the present appeal. She claimed that she was living with Joseph Baby from 2013. But, he deserted her later. Dismissing the appeal, the judges said that they have no hesitation in concurring with the findings of the Family Court judge. "When the marriage has not been solemnized under any one of the enactments, even assuming that there was long and continuous cohabitation or the parties were living together will not give rise to a cause of action for filing an application for restitution of conjugal rights. Long cohabitation or living together will not confer upon the parties any legal right to raise a matrimonial dispute before the Family Court, unless their marriage has been solemnized in a manner known to law," the bench said and upheld the lower court order.