The expression `palimony’ was coined in USA by California Superior Court in 1976 in the famous case of Marvin v. Marvin. ‘Palimony’ means grant of maintenance to a woman who has lived for a substantial period of time with a man without marrying him, and is then deserted by him. This case was related to the famous film actor Lee Marvin, with whom a lady Michelle lived for many years without marrying him, and was then deserted by him and she claimed palimony. Subsequently in many decisions of the Courts in USA, the concept of palimony has been considered and developed. The US Supreme Court has not given any decision on whether there is a legal right to palimony, but there are several decisions of the Courts in various States in USA. The Courts in USA have taken divergent views, some granting palimony, some denying it altogether, and some granting it on certain conditions. Hence in USA the law is still in a state of evolution on the right to palimony.
In India, it was only in the year 2010 when the Supreme Court of India, for the very first time discussed the meaning of the word ‘palimony’ in the case of Chanmuniya v. Virendra Kumar Singh Kushwaha and D. Velusamy v. D. Patchaiammal, and came to the conclusion that palimony could be granted in the case of live in relationship.
In India, alimony is granted under various other provisions like Section 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act, Section 125 of Cr.P.C, Domestic Violence Act 2005 and Section 37 of the Special Marriage Act 1954 but the bone of contention is that no where any specific provision has been made in any statute of the country regarding ‘palimony’. Therefore, it has become a very debatable topic whether palimony can be put at par with the provision of alimony or not. And our paper also examines whether palimony granted is violation of Article 21 or not in the case of live in relationship.
Post Contributed By:
Ashish Ransom
Indian Institute Of Legal Studies
