In a landmark judgment, the Kerala High Court has allowed a 18-year-old boy and a 19-year-old girl to live together, reported News18.
While delivering the judgment, the judge said, “We can't close our eyes to the fact that live-in relations are rampant in our society and such partners cannot be separated by habeas corpus."
According to a report in The New Indian Express, the judgment was delivered by a bench comprising of Justice V Chitambaresh and Justice K P Jyothindranath dismissing the petition filed by the 19-year-old’s father, Muhammed Riyad.
Earlier in May, the Supreme Court of India stood by the freedom of choice where it held that an adult couple has a right to live together without marriage.
The top court had said that live-in relationships were now even recognised by the Legislature and they had found a place under the provisions of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.
The observations came while the apex court was hearing a plea filed by one Nandakumar against a Kerala High Court order annulling his marriage with Thushara on the grounds that he had not attained the legal age of marriage.
The apex court had also clarified that a court cannot interfere in the marriage of two consenting adults and cannot annul the marriage in a habeas corpus petition.
(With inputs from PTI, News18, The New Indian Express and The News Minute)
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