The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court stated on Wednesday that Muslims cannot claim the right to live in a relationship when they are already married, noting that such a relationship is not permitted under Islamic principles.
The observation came during the hearing of the writ petition of Sneha Devi and Mohammad Shadab Khan, residents of Bahraich district, Uttar Pradesh, before Justice AR Masoodi and Justice AK Srivastava. The couple sought protection from police action under Article 21 (protection of life and personal liberty) after the woman’s parents filed a case against Khan, alleging that he kidnapped their daughter and married her, despite them being in a live-in relationship.
Although the petitioners argued that they were adults and had the right to live together in a live-in relationship, the bench discovered during the inquiry that Khan was already married to Farida Khatoon in 2020, with whom he had a five-year-old child. As a result, the court declined to provide any relief to the petitioners.
The bench emphasized that Islamic principles do not permit live-in relationships while the marriage is ongoing, although the situation might be different if the individuals involved are unmarried and choose to live together of their own accord.
Furthermore, the bench stressed the importance of balancing constitutional and social morality in matters concerning the institution of marriage, highlighting that constitutional protection under Article 21 does not unconditionally support such relationships, especially when customs and traditions prohibit them between individuals of different faiths.
