Doesn’t amount to cheating if man told live-in partner that he was married: HC

The Calcutta High Court has said that entering into a live-in relationship after coming clean to the partner about a marital status does not amount to cheating.

The High Court passed the order while overruling a lower court's judgment in which a hotel executive was fined Rs 10 lakh for 'cheating 'his live-in partner of 11 months by walking from the relationship and reneging on his promise of marriage.

In his judgment, Justice Siddhartha Roy Chowdhary observed that cheating, as defined by Section 415 of the Indian Penal Code, referred to inducements in a dishonest or fraudulent manner and also intentional. The common thread in both was deception, the judge said. In order to establish deception, it needed to be proved that the defendants's promise to marry the litigant-for inducing here to have sexual relations with him was false.

On the other hand if the person does not hide his marital status and parenthood, it introduces an element of uncertainty in such relationships, the HC said. If the victim consciously accepted that risk of uncertainty at the very beginning of their relationship, it could not be cheating, the court held. If there is no concealment of fact, resulting in deception, a charge of cheating as defined in Section 415 cannot be proved, the court further held.

The court was hearing an appeal against an order of the Alipore court, which had fined the defendant Rs 10 lakh of which Rs 8 lakh had to be paid to his former partner. Rs 2 lakh was to be paid as fine to the state. The court held him guilty for cohabiting with her for 11 months and reneging on his promise to marry her.

The woman had filed a complaint in which she said that while going fro a hotel job interview, she met with the front-desk manager. The manager was informal and had flirted with her, she said. He had asked for her phone number which she gave willingly.

She also mentioned that when she first met with the accused, he had told her about his failed marriage. He had asked her to move in with him, which she did. The woman's family knew about the relationship and wanted to her to marry quickly. The man however had gone to Mumbai to meet his estranged wife and family. Upon his return, he informed the complainant that he had changed his mind on the divorce. The woman felt cheated and filed a complaint relating to cheating and rape.

She said that her decision to enter into a relationship was purely based on the man's promise that he would dissolve his marriage and then marry her.