No shield for married couples in live-in until divorce: HC

Prayagraj: Stating that the right to freedom is not absolute, the Allahabad high court has ruled that it cannot shield a live-in couple if they are already married, unless they obtain a divorce decree from a court.However, the single-judge bench said that if the petitioners are subjected to any act of violence, they may approach the senior superintendent of police by submitting an application and the authority concerned will verify its contents and do the needful.In a decision dated Mar 20, Justice Vivek Kumar Singh disposed a petition filed by a live-in couple, who had sought a writ of mandamus directing the respondents not to interfere in their life and also for a direction to provide protection.The counsel for the petitioners argued, "Both of them are living together as husband and wife and they fear a threat to life."The state counsel argued that the petitioners' act was illegal as they had not obtained a decree of divorce from their spouses.On this, the court said, "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 (writ jurisdiction) of the Constitution."The court observed, "No one has the right to interfere in the personal liberty of the two adults, not even the parents. However, the right to dreedom or right to personal liberty is not an absolute or unfettered right. It is qualified by some restrictions also.""The freedom of one person extincts where the statutory right of another person starts. A spouse has statutory right to enjoy the company of his or her counterpart and he/she cannot be deprived of that right for the sake of personal liberty and no such protection can be granted to infringe statutory right of the other spouse. Hence, the freedom of one person cannot encroach or overweigh the legal right of another person."The court said, "If the petitioners are already married and have their spouse alive, they cannot be legally permitted to enter into live-in relationship with a third person without seeking divorce. ""It is settled law that writ of mandamus can be issued if the petitioner has a legal right to the performance of a legal duty by the party against whom the mandamus is sought and such right must be subsisting on the date of the petition," the HC noted.BOXWhat A Division Bench SaidJust five days after the above order, a division bench said that morality and law have to be kept separate, and granted protection to a couple saying that there is no offence if a married man stays with an adult in a live-in relationship with the consent of the other person.While hearing a petition of a live-in couple seeking protection allegedly due to threats from the woman's family, the bench of Justice JJ Munir and Justice Tarun Saxena said in its March 25 order that social opinions and moral views will not dictate the court's actions when protecting citizens' rights.