Married person cannot enter into live-in relationship without obtaining divorce: Allahabad HC
Prayagraj (UP) (PTI): The Allahabad High Court has ruled that a married person cannot legally enter into a live-in relationship with a third party without first obtaining a decree of divorce.
With this observation, the court dismissed a writ petition seeking protection filed by a couple in a live-in relationship.
Justice Vivek Kumar Singh observed that the freedom of personal liberty is not absolute and cannot infringe upon the statutory rights of an existing spouse.
The petitioners had approached the court with a prayer that both petitioners are major and living together as husband and wife and they have apprehension of a life threat from the respondent.
On the other hand, the state counsel opposed the prayer made by the petitioners and submitted that the act of the petitioners is illegal as petitioner no. 1 is already married to one Dinesh Kumar and has not obtained a decree of divorce.
The court observed in its judgment on Tuesday, "No one has the right to interfere in the personal liberty of the two adults, not even the parents of two adults can interfere in their relationship, but the Right to Freedom or Right to Personal Liberty is not absolute or unfettered: it is qualified by some restrictions also. The freedom of one person extincts where the statutory right of another person starts."
A spouse has the statutory right to enjoy the company of his or her counterpart and he/she cannot be deprived of that right for the sake of personal liberty and no such protection can be granted to infringe statutory right of the other spouse, the court said, adding hence, the freedom of one person cannot encroach or overweigh the legal right of another person.
"If the petitioners are already married and have their spouse alive, he/she cannot be legally permitted to enter into a live-in relationship with a third person without seeking divorce from the earlier spouse," the court said.
With the above observation, the court said that it is not inclined to issue any writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus for protection to the petitioners who are in a live-in relationship without obtaining a decree of divorce from a competent court.
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RCB beat MI by 18 runs after batters fire
Mumbai (PTI): Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Rajat Patidar, Phil Salt and Virat Kohli blasted half-centuries as the defending champions beat Mumbai Indians by 18 runs in an Indian Premier League match here on Sunday.
Salt (78 off 36 balls) and Kohli (50 off 38 balls) stitched together a 120-run stand for the opening wicket before Patidar scored a rapid 53 off just 20 balls as RCB posted 240 for 4.
In response, Mumbai Indians were restricted to 222 for 5, with RCB spinner Suyash Sharma (2/47) putting the skids on the home side with a double strike in the eighth over, from which they could not recover.
Sherfane Rutherford top-scored for MI with an unbeaten 71 off 31 balls.
While opener Rohit Sharma appeared to be struggling with a hamstring issue and had to retire hurt on 19, his partner Ryan Rickelton made 37, while Suryakumar Yadav (33) and Hardik Pandya (40) were the other contributors for MI.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 240 for 4 in 20 overs (Phil Salt 78, Virat Kohli 50, Rajat Patidar 53, Tim David 35 not out).
Mumbai Indians: 222 for 5 in 20 overs (Sherfane Rutherford 71 not out, Ryan Rickelton 37, Hardik Pandya 40; Suyash Sharma 2/47).
