'Any sexual, lustful, affectionate acts such as kissing, touching, staring are ‘Haram’ in Islam before marriage': Allahabad HC

While refusing to grant protection to an interfaith live-in couple, the Allahabad High Court said the Supreme Court had on several occasions refused to expand the meaning of the word "wife" as defined in Section 125 of the Criminal Code (CrPC) to include live-in partners or "another wife" for claims for alimony.

A bench comprising Justice Sangeet Chandra and Justice Narendra Kumar Johari noted that there was no mention in the petition of the live-in couples whether they wanted to get married in the near future or how long they were enjoying the relationship or what. is their present marital status and their pleas regarding their fellow man and society in general do not resist, they acknowledge that they enjoy a relationship in the nature of marriage.

The Supreme Court, while discussing the provisions in personal and other laws governing matrimonial provisions and maintenance for a legally married wife, stated that the grant of maintenance was granted to a legally married wife under the relevant provisions for a Hindu or a Muslim wife.

The Supreme Court noted that concubines or mistresses are not on the list of persons to be maintained by the husband under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, and Muslim women derive their right to maintenance from Sharia and Muslim Women (Protection of Rights in Divorce) However, the law cannot be in Muslim law recognized sex outside marriage.

"The punishment for such an offense according to the Qur'an (Chapter 24) is one hundred lashes for an unmarried man and woman who commit fornication, along with the punishment prescribed by the 'Sunna' for a married man and woman who commit stoning," the Supreme Court added.

"In fact any sexual, lustful, affectionate acts like kissing, touching, staring etc. are 'haram' in Islam before marriage as they are considered parts of 'Zina' which can lead to actual 'Zina' itself," The High Court said.

The Supreme Court's ruling concerned the pleas of an interfaith live-in couple seeking protection from harassment allegedly by the police. The living couple - a Hindu woman and a Muslim woman - argued before the court that the woman's mother had a problem with living between them and filed a complaint with the police in this regard.

The law reserves many rights and privileges for married persons to preserve and promote the institution of marriage and the Supreme Court simply accepts the social reality and does not intend to unravel the fabric of Indian family life, the Supreme Court said.