Religious principles prohibit live-in relationships for Muslims with living spouses: Allahabad HC

The Allahabad High Court recently criticized an interfaith couple’s plea that ‘virtually’ legitimizes their live-in relationship. The court noted that the man, a Muslim, was already married and had a five-year-old child with his legally married wife.

“The religious principles to which petitioner No. 2 (the husband) belongs do not permit a live-in relationship during the existing marriage,” Justices Attau Rahman Masoodi and Ajai Kumar Srivastava observed. in Islam he cannot claim any right in the nature of cohabitation, especially if he has a living husband. The constitutional protection under Article 21 of the Constitution of India would not lend unchannelled support to such a right. the customs and usages forbid any such relationship between the two individuals of the above description.”

The court was of the view that further allowing the live-in relationship between the petitioner couple would be untenable considering the rights of the Muslim man’s legal wife and the welfare of the child born from their legal union.

“Thus, the direction for continuation of life-in-relationship as prayed in the present writ petition, the court would strongly disapprove and deny,” the court stated, while emphasizing that “the constitutional morality and social morality in this issue of the institution of marriage must be balanced, otherwise the social cohesion for achieving the goal of peace and tranquility in the society would fade and disappear.”

The order was passed in a successive writ petition filed by the couple, which sought to quash a case filed by the woman’s family against the man on April 24, 2024. Moreover, they asked for directions to protect their lives and freedoms. Petitioners claimed that they voluntarily entered into a live-in relationship.

The couple’s first petition was heard by the court on April 25, but was transferred for registration as their counsel sought permission to withdraw it, with the liberty to file a new petition later.

Through both the petitions, the petitioner-husband stated that he had married a Muslim woman in 2020 and that they also had a daughter. He said that his first wife does not object to his live-in relationship with his current partner due to illness. He also stated that he had given ‘triple talaq’ to his wife, who was currently living in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh.

However, the court held that the man’s claim was untrue as it came to light that the petitioner’s first wife was currently living with her in-laws in Mumbai.

The court noted that the situation would have been different if the petitioners had been unmarried and since they were already adults, they had chosen to live their lives in their own way.

The constitutional morality in that situation can come to the rescue of such a couple and the social morality laid down by the customs and customs over the centuries can give way to the constitutional morality and protection under Article 21 of the Constitution of India can intervene for the reason, the court said.

It clarified that “customs and usages are an equal source of law recognized by the Constitution as the law made by the competent legislature” and that “once there is recognition of the customs and usages as a valid law within the framework of our Constitution, even such laws become enforceable in an appropriate case”.