ADULTS CAN LIVE TOGETHER WITHOUT BEING MARRIED: SC

NEW DELHI: Coming to the aid of a Kerala couple, where a girl voluntarily married a minor boy, the Supreme Court has held that even though such a marriage is voidable, the girl has a right to live with the boy, even outside wedlock.

The judgment delivered by a bench of justice AK Sikri and justice Ashok Bhushan held, “Even if they were not competent to enter wedlock (which position itself is disputed), they have the right to live together even outside wedlock. A live-in relationship is now recognised by the Legislature.”

Under the Hindu Marriage Act, a girl can marry once she attains the age of 18, while for the boy, the legal age is 21.

The case pertains to the marriage of a 19-year-old girl with a 20-year-old boy in Trivandrum last year. The girl’s father filed a petition in the Kerala high court seeking the custody of his daughter, alleging that the marriage was null and void. He said according to the Act, the boy was not of marriageable age.

The Kerala HC agreed with the contentions of the father and not only declared the marriage null and void but also gave him the girl’s custody.

Aggrieved by the order, the boy approached the top court seeking restoration of his marriage. He argued that the high court could not go into the legality of the marriage and the girl had the right to live with the partner of her choice.

While passing the judgment in the boy’s favour, the Supreme Court relied on the recent Hadiya case, where it restored her marriage with Shafin Jahan on the grounds that it was a union between two consenting adults.

Quoting directly from the judgment, the court said, “It needs no special emphasis to state that attaining the age of majority in an individual’s life has its own significance. The daughter is entitled to enjoy her freedom as the law permits and 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. We say so without any reservation.”

The Supreme Court also set aside the high court judgment that gave the custody of the girl to her parents.

THE GIRL’S FATHER FILED A PETITION IN KERALA HIGH COURT SEEKING CUSTODY OF HIS DAUGHTER, ALLEGING THAT THE MARRIAGE WAS NULL AND VOID