• The Supreme Court of India in 2010, gave legal recognition to the live-in relationship in the case of S Khushboo versus Kanniammal. The Supreme Court categorized live-in relationships as domestic relationships which are protected under the protection of women from the domestic violence act 2005.
• A live-in relationship means living together before marriage. It is a domestic cohabitation between unmarried couples.
• Marriage is considered sacred in the Indian country. Marriage is a relationship between two people that is legally and socially accepted by society. So you can imagine how a society can accept two people living together without marriage.
• When it comes to marriage in India traditions have been given utmost importance and therefore any deviance from any tradition is considered to be a sin in Indian Society.
• The concept of live in relationship is totally opposite to the concept of marriage, the main reason why men and women enter into marital ties is to secure each other and to support each other, although in live in relationship couple are living together because they love each other the degree of security that is present in marriages is not present in live in relationship.
• Indian people are conditioned to those tradition and values and therefore it would be wrong to judge those people who oppose the concept of live in relationship.
• Change in society takes place gradually and hence change should be gradual and not sudden. The concept of live in relationship is taken from the western world and hence it will bring rational thinking and make people more open-minded and encourage them to think broadly.
• In a way live in relationships are beneficial to the society especially to the Indian Society as live in couple spend a lot of time together before getting married and hence it is logical that a partner whom a person wants to spend his entire life must be able to know him or her completely, especially in India where the cases of divorce are on a rise. In spite of the fact that live-in relationships are highly recognised in the western countries it still remains under the social lock mainly due to the Hindu Dharma as in Hindu Dharma marriage is seen as an eternal union that cannot be broken and hence if once married you remain together for seven generation.
• However, live in relationships as per some Hindu philosophers is unrighteous and should not be practised, however, it should be realised that the if anyone wants to live together as per their wishes they should be given that much liberty to do that in a democratic setup and those couples must not be victimised.
• It is appreciable that the judiciary through various pronouncements have given legitimacy to the live in couple which is again a welcoming step and the fact that the young generation of India are thinking rationally and are open minded in matters like these is a positive sign.

NOTE: (Not for Answer)

Advantages  

• To Check Compatibility - When a person starts living with another person 24/7, both people get to know about each other. They can know the habits of each other and figure out if they can stay in a relationship of marriage with each other or not. If the couples after staying in a living relationship for a couple of months and decide that they are not compatible with each other, they can easily move on from that relationship.
• Test For Marriage - When boys and girls enter into a marriage relationship, they face many problems and questions from their relatives and family members. But if they are in a live-in relationship, we can easily test that but problems they can face if they get married. Also, there can be a possibility that one of the partners is cheating. If the partners are already married, they have to choose the option of divorce with the help of court or divorce mediation in India. But if the couples are in a live-in relationship and find that one of the partners is cheating, we can easily move on.
• To Check The Responsibilities - Many of the marriages failed due to the reason that the couples failed to take the responsibilities. These responsibilities can be related to family or even financial burdens. The couples by staying in a living relationship can easily figure out whether they can take all these responsibilities or not.
• Remove Social Pressure - Marriage comes with lots of pressure from society and all families. But there is no pressure in a relationship. The couples can live together without involving their families in the relationship.
• To Check The Bonding - Trust and bonding between couples are one of the best methods to stay in a marriage relationship. The couple who are dating and living together uh can check their bonding and trust level with each other. If the couple figures out that their bonding is strong, they can take the next step and get married.
• To Check The Duration Of The Relationship - Generally, it happens that we come into a relationship due to attraction from each other. But after some time this attraction comes to an end and the relationship becomes boring. Living in a relationship helps both the couple to check whether they love each other or it was just attraction.
• No Stamp Of Divorcee - One of the best things about living in a relationship is that if the couples agree on a point that they are not made for each other and move on from their living relationship, there will be no tag of a divorcee for both boy and girl. They can come into a relationship with another person.
• Help To Build Unity In Diversity - When a person leaves the house he or she meets new people. There can be chances that he/she may Love somebody from a different culture, religion or caste. Such couples can come into a live-in relationship to know about each other by knowing about their habits, cultures and it helps to build unity in diversity. Because if one couple from different religion or culture Mary with another different person, it will make a strong bond between their families and other persons may also attract towards the culture of other people.
• To Spend Quality Time - Some live in relationships just to spend some quality time with each other. In modern times, couples stay with each other in a relationship so that they can support each other for their work or solve mental stress.
• No Contractual Relationship - The main advantage of a live-in relationship is its non-contractual characteristic relationship. In India, marriages are considered sacred as well as a contract between the two parties, which just like any other contract has its legal implications if any of the parties does not abide by the terms and conditions. In a living relationship, such kind of contractual liability is missing and therefore couples are free to operate their relationships as per their own needs.

Disadvantages

• Major Mental Distress - We cannot deny that the biggest disadvantage remains the social stigma that live-in relationship couples have to go through. From finding a decent place to live in to constantly being judged by the people around them these couples go through major mental distress.
• Status Of The Children - Another disadvantage that cannot be ignored is the status of the children born out of live-in relationships. Even though the court recognizes children born out of such relationships as legitimate but studies show the children from such relationships go through major mental stress and do not get to enjoy the childhood that every child deserves due to the taboo that the live-in relationship carries with it.
• Lack Of Commitment = One more con that can be addressed in the case of living relationships is a lack of commitment. For some couples, it can also be an advantageous situation but it can be the biggest disadvantage if the partner is not fulfilling his commitments.
• More Flexibility - Flexibility is the hallmark of a live-in relationship but too many loopholes sometimes cause the relationship to tear apart. Where walking out of a relationship is also taken as a pro it also serves as a con in many cases as some people find it very hard to break up after taking a leap of faith and making plenty of changes in their respective lives, but then again this disadvantage is not especially associated with the live-in relationships, even marriages face the breakdown!
• No Support From Families - The biggest disadvantage of live-in relationships is the lack of support from families and friends. It causes the couple a lot of mental agonies and sometimes is also the reason for the downfall of their relationship.