Of marriage, morality and right to protection: what recent Allahabad HC judgments say

Two judgments with contrasting approaches delivered by different Benches of the Allahabad High Court in a span of one month offer some food for thought. In both cases, the court was navigating an uneasy terrain where the fundamental right to life and liberty enshrined in Article 21 of the Indian Constitution meets marital obligation and societal norms.

The cases in point examined whether a married individual in a live-in relationship with another consenting adult – an act socially termed as an extramarital affair — is entitled to the basic right to protection from continuous threats from their families and spouses.