Married Muslims cannot claim rights in a live-in relationship, says Allahabad HC

The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday ruled that any married Muslim cannot claim a right in a live-in relationship as the same is not allowed under the rules of Islam.

A two-judge bench led by Justices AR Masoodi and AK Srivastava made the observations while hearing a writ petition by Sneha Devi and Mohd Shadab Khan, who were seeking protection from police action after Devi's parents filed a kidnapping complaint against Khan, and ordered her be returned to her parents under guard.

While being in a live-in relationship, the petitioners said that the woman's parents filed an FIR against Khan, accusing him of kidnapping Devi and trying to marry her then.

They also sought protection for their life and liberty, claiming they were adults who, according to the Supreme Court, were free to live together in a live-in relationship.

Later, in further investigations, it was revealed that Khan had already been married in 2020 and was also the father of one.

Responding to this the court said, "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 major choose to lead their lives in a way of their own."

The couple also asked for protection under Article 21 of the Indian constitution which allows an individual personal liberty along with protection of life. In response to this clause, the court further said, "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," while taking into account that Khan was already married.