Marriages and morality separate, says High Court on consensual affair ruling; married
On March 27 in a landmark judgment that has sparked national debate over the intersection of law and personal conduct. The Allahabad High Court ruled unequivocally that there is no crime if a man lives consensually with an unmarried, competent female partner while remaining married to another woman; morality cannot override statutory laws or criminalize such relationships under current Indian statutes.
Key Points
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1The Allahabad High Court has ruled that a consensual live-in relationship between a married adult woman and another man does not constitute a criminal offense.
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2Courts emphasized the principle of keeping legal statutes separate from societal morality when adjudicating such cases to protect individual rights.
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3During hearings, counsel for families argued against prosecution based on social disapproval but courts maintained that moral judgments cannot override statutory law.
Developments
The Allahabad High Court ruled that a married man living with an adult woman in her consent does not constitute a criminal offence, stating that societal morality cannot override legal principles or guide court actions on protecting citizens' rights. The bench emphasized its duty to safeguard the couple's right against threats from their family members and held police responsible for taking action when adults live together by mutual agreement despite opposition from relatives.
The Allahabad High Court ruled in Shahjahanpur against police prosecution of an adult man for being voluntarily involved in a consensual live-in relationship despite his marriage status and family objections to it. The judges emphasized the separation between law, morality, social opinion, criminality; stating that personal relationships cannot be judged by moral standards alone or automatically treated as offenses without clear legal grounds under relevant statutes like Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita