The Allahabad High Court has observed that a married man living in a live-in relationship with an adult woman “is not a crime”. The court stressed that morality and law must be treated separately. The court made this statement while hearing a petition filed by a live-in couple seeking protection. It directed the concerned Superintendent of Police (SP) to ensure their safety.
Protection for the couple
The woman’s family, who oppose the relationship, had filed a case accusing the man of kidnapping her to force her into marriage. In its order dated March 25, a division bench of Justices JJ Munir and Tarun Saxena directed the woman’s family members to “stand restrained from causing harm to the couple in life or limb”.
The court also said that the family “shall not enter their matrimonial home or contact them directly or through any electronic means of communication or through… others”.
Argument presented in court
The counsel for the couple, Shahanshah Akhtar Khan, told The Indian Express that the man is already married and has children who live in his village. He argued that as per the law, only the man’s wife can object to his relationship. No one else, including the woman’s family or the wife’s family, has the legal right to do so.
The court has listed the next hearing for April 8 and given two weeks to the government and the woman’s family to file their responses. It also ordered that “Until further orders of this court, the petitioners… shall not be arrested in the case…”
The court directed that its order be communicated within 24 hours to the SP of Shahjahanpur and the Station House Officer of Jaitipur police station.
Additionally, it said, “Superintendent of Police, Shahjahanpur, shall be personally responsible to ensure the safety and security of the petitioners.”
‘Law trumps social opinions and morality’
In the petition, the woman stated that her family had threatened her with death and that she feared an ‘honour killing’. Her mother, in the FIR, alleged that the man had abducted her 18-year-old daughter to force her into marriage. The family’s counsel argued that since the man is married, living with another woman is an offence.
However, the court rejected this argument, saying, “There is no offence of the kind where a married man, staying with an adult in a live-in relationship, by consent of the other person, can be prosecuted for any offence, whatsoever. Morality and law have to be kept apart. If… no offence under the law [is] made out, social opinions and morality will not guide the action of the court for protecting the rights of citizens.”
The court noted that the woman had already informed the SP that she is an adult and living with the man of her own free will, but no action was taken. It said, “To protect two adults living together is the duty of the police. Particular obligations in this regard are cast upon the Superintendent of Police, as held by the Supreme Court in Shakti Vahini v. Union of India and others…” The court also mentioned that the petition is supported by a joint affidavit from both individuals.