When two people of legal age, 18 for awoman and 21 for a man, ‘indulge in sexual gratification’ this should be seenas a 'an act of total commitment' and marriage by law, a judge at Madras HighCourt said.
The court said that the registering of amarriage as well as a wedding ceremony were only formalities to gain society’sapproval.
法庭说婚姻登记以及举办婚礼只是为了获得社会的认可。
It also said that once two people have sex this ‘becomes a total commitment withadherence to all consequences that may follow’, including needing a decree ofdivorce should they want to sleep with someone else.
In addition, should either of the two wishto register the ‘marriage’ they can have their marital status declared by aFamily Court as long as they can supply proof of a sexual relationship.
Once declared by the court, the person can be established as the other’s spouse whether the other party approves or not.
法院一旦宣布夫妻关系后，提出婚姻登记的一方就成为了另一方的配偶——不管这另一方愿意与否。
‘Legal rights applicable to normal weddedcouples will also be applicable to couples who have had sexual relationshipswhich are established,’ the court declared in their ruling obtained by The Hindu.
“法院在裁决中还提到：“一般夫妻所享有的法定权利也同样适用于被确定发生性关系而结成的夫妻。”
The verdict came in a spousal maintenance case where a lower court had ruledthat a woman was not entitled to maintenance from the father of her twochildren as there was no proof of their marriage.
Judge Karnan saidthe couple ‘led their marital life under the same shelter and begot twochildren.
法官Karnan说，这两名男女“在同一个屋檐下过着婚姻生活，而且生了两个孩子”。
'Therefore, the petitioner’s rank has beenelevated as the "wife" of the respondent and likewise, therespondent’s rank has been elevated as the "husband" of thepetitioner.‘
“因此，请愿人已经成为被告人的“妻子”了，反之亦然，被告人也自动成为请愿人的“丈夫”。
The man was ordered to pay the woman 500rupees a month in maintenance as well as maintenance for their two children.
