The Allahabad High Court held that married individuals cannot legally enter a live-in relationship without first obtaining a divorce. The Court refused protection to the couple but said they can approach police if they face any threat or violence.
The Allahabad High Court has recently given an important observation regarding live-in relationships involving married persons. The Court said that a person who is already married cannot legally enter into a live-in relationship with another person without first taking a divorce from their legally wedded spouse.
The Court made this observation while hearing a petition filed by a woman named Anju and her male partner, who approached the Court seeking protection and a direction to authorities not to interfere in their peaceful life.
The case was heard by Justice Vivek Kumar Singh, who passed the order on March 20, and the order was made public later. The petitioners had filed a writ of mandamus requesting the Court to direct the authorities to ensure that no one interferes in their peaceful living and also to provide them protection as they feared danger to their lives.
Their lawyer told the Court,
“Both the petitioners are living together as husband and wife, and they have apprehension of life threat.”
However, the State’s standing counsel opposed the plea and argued that both individuals were already married to different persons and had not taken divorce from their respective spouses. Therefore, their live-in relationship was not legally acceptable. The Court agreed with this argument and refused to grant protection under Article 226 of the Constitution.
The Court clearly stated,
“In such a situation, protection to the petitioners who claim to be in a live-in relationship cannot be granted in exercise of powers conferred under Article 226 of the Constitution.”
The Court further explained the legal position and said,
“If the petitioners are already married and have their spouse alive, he/she cannot be legally permitted to enter into live-in relationship with a third person without seeking divorce from the earlier spouse…,”
the court said.
At the same time, the Court also clarified that personal liberty is important, but it is not absolute and comes with certain legal limitations.
The Court said,
“No one has the right to interfere in the personal liberty of the two adults, not even the parents of two adults can interfere in their relationship, but the Right to Freedom or Right to Personal Liberty is not an absolute or unfettered right, it is qualified by some restrictions also,”
it added.
However, the Court also gave liberty to the petitioners to approach the police if they face any violence or threat. The Court directed that if the petitioners are disturbed or subjected to any act of violence, they may approach the Senior Superintendent of Police by submitting a detailed application, and the concerned authority will verify the facts and take action according to law to ensure their safety.
Interestingly, this observation came just days after a Division Bench of the same High Court took a different view in another case. In that case, the Division Bench had said that a married man living in a live-in relationship with a consenting adult woman is not committing any offence under the law.
The Division Bench had clearly observed,
“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.”
In that earlier case, the Division Bench had also granted protection from arrest to the couple because an FIR had been registered against the man on allegations that he had kidnapped the woman. Since it was a criminal matter, the case was heard by a Division Bench. On the other hand, the present case was civil in nature because no FIR had been registered, and therefore it was heard by a Single Judge Bench.
This situation shows that there are different legal views emerging from the Allahabad High Court regarding live-in relationships involving married persons. While one bench refused protection in a civil matter involving married partners in a live-in relationship, another bench in a criminal matter granted protection and stated that morality and law should be treated separately if no offence is made out.
The issue of live-in relationships, especially when one or both partners are already married, continues to remain a complex legal and social issue in India. Courts often have to balance personal liberty, existing marriage laws, and social realities while deciding such cases. This recent order once again highlights the legal complications that arise when married persons enter into live-in relationships without legally ending their previous marriage.
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