Jaipur: According to a single-judge bench of the Rajasthan High Court, a live-in relationship between a man and a married woman is ‘illicit’. On August 12, the court denied police protection to the woman because she stated before the court that she was a victim of domestic violence and subsequently left her husband’s house.
A 30-year-old married woman and a 27-year-old man from the Jhunjhunu district filed a complaint before Justice Satish Kumar Sharma’s single-judge bench. During the hearing, the petitioners’ counsel testified both are adults in consensual relationships. According to the petition, the woman is married but has been living separately due to physical abuse by her husband. ‘It is clear from examining all the documents of both sides that petitioner number 1 is already married. She has not got a divorce but despite that, she is staying with petitioner number 2 in a live-in relationship. In such a scenario, the live-in relationship between the two comes under the category of an illicit relationship,’ says the court order.
Read also: Olympian auctions silver medal to raise fund for baby’s surgery
In passing his order, Justice Sharma also cited a recent order of the Allahabad High Court, in which the court had rejected a request for police protection in a similar case. Earlier this month, the Allahabad High Court dismissed a protection case filed by a married woman living with her partner. The court noted that live-in relationships cannot be at the expense of the social fabric of this country.
The division bench of Justices Dr Kaushal Jayendra Thaker and Subhash Chandra observed, ‘Directing the police to grant protection to them may indirectly give our assent to such illicit relations.’ The bench also described the woman’s live-in relationship with her partner as illicit. Notably, the married woman had filed a petition seeking direction for her security since she lived with a live-in partner.
Post Your Comments