The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court has said that a follower of Islam cannot be in a live-in relationship, particularly if their spouse is alive.
"The Islamic tenets do not permit live-in relationships during the subsisting marriage. The position may be different if the two persons are unmarried and the parties being adults choose to lead their lives in a way of their own," said the bench on Wednesday.
With this observation, a bench of Justice AR Masoodi and Justice AK Srivastava refused to provide police protection to petitioners Sneha Devi and Mohd Shadab Khan, both natives of Bahraich district.
The petitioners claimed they were in a live-in relationship but the woman's parents lodged an FIR against Mr Khan for kidnapping and inducing their daughter to marry him.
The petitioners sought police protection saying they are adults and as per a Supreme Court order, they were free to stay in a live-in relationship.
On enquiry, the bench found that Khan was already married (to one Farida Khatoon in 2020) and even had a daughter. Considering this fact, the court declined to provide him police protection on the grounds of the SC verdict which permits a live-in relationship. The bench instead said that Islam does not permit such a relationship, especially under the circumstances of the present case.
Expressing that constitutional morality and social morality in the matter of marriage institution requires to be balanced, failing which social coherence for achieving the object of peace and tranquillity in the society would fade and disappear, the bench directed the police that the petitioner Sneha Devi be sent to her parents under security.
The bench observed: "The constitutional morality may come to the rescue of such a couple and the social morality settled through the customs and usages over ages may give way to the constitutional morality and protection under Article 21 of the Constitution of India may step in to protect the cause. The case before us is, however, different."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video Of The Day
Uttar Pradesh: Bus Catches Fire On Purvanchal Expressway, All Passengers Safe
Allahabad High Court Grants Bail To Former Samajwadi Party MLA Irfan Solanki In Arson Case "Throwing Baby With Bathwater": Top Court Junks Ruling Against UP Madrasas Top Court Verdict Tomorrow On Pleas Against Order Scrapping UP Madrasa Law Wary Of NASA Satellites, How Farmers Time Crop-Burning, Scientist Explains This Trump Pick Might Spell Trouble For Indian Techies, H-1B Visa Seekers New Zealand MP Leads Traditional Dance, Rips Up Copy Of Bill In Parliament Key Government Agency To Probe Ola Electric Over Product Issues Hate Speech Watchdog To Quit Elon Musk's X Over Updated Terms Of Service European Watchdog Partially Approves New Alzheimer's Drug Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.