New Delhi, April 8 (PTI): Delhi High Court has held that the law protects not just a man’s wife but also a “mistress” or a live-in partner, expanding the ambit of the domestic violence act.

“We find no reason why equal treatment should not be accorded to a wife as well as a woman who has been living with a man as his common-law wife or even as a mistress,” the court said.

The bench of Justices Vikramjit Sen and P.K. Bhasin passed the judgment on a petition filed by a man seeking to quash criminal proceedings against him on a complaint filed by his live-in partner.

Rejecting the petitioner’s plea, the court said: “Like treatment to both (wife and mistress) does not, in any manner, derogate from the sanctity of marriage since an assumption can fairly be drawn that a live-in relationship is invariably initiated and perpetuated by the male,” the bench said.