Adults can be in live-in relationship even without attaining marriageable age: Rajasthan HC
Jaipur (PTI): The Rajasthan High Court has ruled that two consenting adults are entitled to be in a live-in relationship even if they have not yet reached the legal age for marriage, underscoring that constitutional rights cannot be curtailed on that ground.
Justice Anoop Dhand delivered the judgement while hearing a plea for protection filed by an 18-year-old woman and a 19-year-old man from Kota, who told the court that they were living together out of free will.
The couple told the court that they had executed a live-in agreement on October 27, 2025.
The petitioners alleged that the woman's family opposed the relationship and had threatened to kill them, and that their complaint to the Kota police went unaddressed.
Opposing the petition, public prosecutor Vivek Choudhary argued that because the man had not attained 21 years -- the minimum legal age for marriage for men -- he should not be permitted to be in a live-in arrangement.
The court dismissed the argument, saying the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution cannot be denied merely because the petitioners are not of marriageable age.
"The state has a constitutional obligation to safeguard the life and liberty of every individual," the judge observed, adding that live-in relationships are not prohibited or criminalised under Indian law.
Justice Dhand directed the superintendents of police of Bhilwara and Jodhpur (rural) to verify the facts stated in the petition, assess the threat perception, and ensure necessary protection to the couple if required.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
