Societal disapproval cannot deprive interfaith partners of live-in rights, says Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has observed that a 19-year-old Hindu girl and a 20-year-old Muslim boy desired to have a live-in relationship and that they cannot be deprived of their rights granted under the Constitution merely because of societal disapproval. The court also said it was the girl’s choice to have a live-in with her partner, and it cannot restrict her freedom from making such a choice.

A bench of Justices Bharti Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande made the remark while directing the release of the girl from a shelter home where she had been lodged by the police.

“We have two adults before us, who consensually have chosen each other as their partners by making a conscious choice of living in a live-in relationship. Since no law prevents them from leading their lives of their own choices, we deem it appropriate to direct the release of the girl from the custody of Shaskriya Stree Bhishekari Khikar Kendra, forthwith,” the bench said.

It added that on attaining the adult age, the girl exercised her choice and made it unequivocally clear that she wanted to lead her life, on her own terms and conditions.

The bench also said it could see the concern of the girl’s parents who were interested in securing her future. “Since the girl, who is an adult, has exercised her freedom to make a choice, in our opinion, it is not permissible for us to restrict her freedom of making the choice, which she is entitled to in law,” it said.

The bench quoted the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Soni Gerry vs Gerry Douglas case, which stated that the court should not assume the role of a super guardian being moved by any kind of sentiment of the mother or the egotism of the father.

However, the bench declined the relief of providing police protection as claimed in the plea by the boy.

The bench had spoken to the girl for about an hour. “The girl is clear in her thoughts that when she expressed before us, that she is ready to live with the petitioner in a live-in relationship. She is an adult and so is the petitioner and she at this stage does not express her desire to enter into a marital bond,” the bench noted.

The girl, the bench said, was entitled to the freedom to make a choice of what was right for her and which shall not be determined by her parents nor by society.

“It is her decision as an adult that she does not intend to stay with her parents nor does she want to continue her stay at a shelter home. She wants to lead her life as a free person, who is not physically restricted or controlled by others and is able to make her own choice and decision,” the court observed.

The bench was hearing a plea filed by the boy through advocate Abid Abbas Sayyed, who sought that the girl be released from the shelter home. The girl was sent to the shelter home by the police after her father lodged a complaint.

Following the registration of the complaint, the girl was called to the police station, where her parents, police officials and members of the Bajrang Dal, among others, allegedly attempted to intimidate and coerce her into abandoning her relationship with the boy, according to her plea.

Despite the pressure, the girl expressed her desire to marry the petitioner and refused to return to her parents, after which she was sent to the shelter home.