Consenting adults free to live together: Allahabad HC on live-in relationships

Relying upon the Supreme Court's judgment that live-in relationship between consenting adults is legal if it meets the requirements of marriage, Allahabad high court quashed the FIR which was lodged by the father of a girl in UP.

Image credit: Allahabad HC

Prayagraj: The Allahabad high court (HC) has held that two adults are at liberty to live together and no person should be permitted to interfere in their peaceful `live-in relationship`. In this major judgment, the court quashed the first information report, which was lodged by the father of a girl in Uttar Pradesh`s Jaunpur district.

A division bench of Allahabad HC comprising Justice Suneet Kumar and Justice Syed Waiz Mian relied upon a judgment of the apex court which provided that live-in relationship between the consenting adults is legal if the requirements of marriage, such as legal age of marriage, consent and soundness of mind, are met.

No rule permits or bans such connections, the apex court had added.

In the landmark case of S. Khushboo Vs Kanniammal, the apex court held that a live-in relationship comes within the ambit of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, which provides that no person can be deprived of his life and personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law.

The court also held that live-in relationships are permissible, and the act of two adults living together cannot be considered "unlawful" or "illegal".