Live-in with cousin? Bombay high court on the fence

Can first cousins marry each other? Such a union, except for some communities, is void under the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA), 1955. However, while disposing of a habeas corpus petition filed by Inderpal Walia, 37, the Bombay high court on Monday said the decision of a girl to live with her cousin would be at her discretion.

In his petition, Walia said he fell in love with his first cousin Harmandeep Kaur, 19, when he met her in Amritsar in March 2008. He had also lived with Harmandeep as “husband and wife” at her parents’ house before they got married in Mumbai on January 21, 2009. Walia says though her parents initially agreed to their marriage, Harmandeep was forcibly taken away from him in September 2009.

Walia had pleaded before the court to allow Harmandeep to live with him since he fears his wife would be married off to an NRI. “Considering the changes in the modern world, the friendship and the union of the petitioner (Walia) with Harmandeep is a necessity and it is no more a kind of foolishness,” Walia’s petition stated.

A division bench of justices AM Khanwilkar and UD Salvi, however, refused to grant permission for their live-in relationship. “The court cannot be expected to put a seal on an arrangement which is not recognised in law,” justice Khanwilkar said. The judges held that the purpose of the habeas corpus petition was served as Harmandeep had been brought before the court and she was “hale and hearty”. The judges said the girl was an adult and she could take decisions on her own.    

They also agreed that this was “not an ordinary case”.
Walia’s advocate, Bhavesh Parmar, told the court that Walia was not aware Harmandeep was his first cousin when they got married before a registrar in the Mira-Bhayander court. He got to know from legal experts that their marriage was null and void under Section 5 of the HMA after Harmandeep was taken away by her family. “I have advised my client to challenge the order in the Supreme Court,” Parmar said.