Married man in consensual live-in relationship with an adult not an offence: Allahabad High Court

Lucknow: In a significant judgement, the Allahabad High Court said that a consensual live-in relationship between a married man and another adult is not an offence.

A division bench comprising Justice JJ Munir and Justice Tarun Saxena pronounced the ruling on Wednesday.

The court was hearing a petition filed by a couple challenging the registration of an FIR by the mother of a woman under section 87 of the BNS (kidnapping or abducting of inducing a woman to compel her to marry) in Jaitipur police station in Shahjahanpur district.

The couple had also contended that they feared for their lives and that their request to provide them security had been accepted by the police.

‘’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’’, the court said.

The court sought to separate morality from law and said that the former could not influence the action of the court.

‘’Morality and law have to be kept apart. If there is no offence under the law made out, social opinions and morality will not guide the action of the court for protecting the rights of citizens’’, it added.

The court also observed that the parents of the girl and other family members were averse to the marriage and had threatened her with death, and the couple feared honour killing.

‘’Apparently, no action has been taken on this complaint by the Superintendent of Police. To protect two adults living together is the duty of the Police,’’ the court said.

The court barred the police from arresting the couple in the case and also restrained the parents of the girl and all members of her family from entering their home or contacting them or causing them any harm and directed the police to ensure their safety.