Right to live in is part of right to life, says Supreme Court

A man and a woman living together without marriage cannot be construed as an offence, and there is no law prohibiting pre-marital sex, the Supreme Court observed on Tuesday.

“Living together is a [part of] right to life… when two adults want to live together, it is not an offence. It cannot be,” a three-judge bench of chief justice KG Balakrishnan, justice Deepak Verma, and justice BS Chauhan observed. Even Lord Krishna and Radha lived together, the bench said, citing mythology.

The court’s observation came during the hearing of a special leave petition filed by Tamil actress Khushboo. She had sought the quashing of 22 criminal cases filed against her after she allegedly endorsed pre-marital sex in interviews to magazines in 2005. The court has reserved its judgment.

Counsel for the complainants contended that Khushboo's comments would adversely affect the minds of young people and lead to a decay in moral values and the country’s ethos.

The judges refused to buy the argument. “Please tell us what the offence is and which section of law applies," they said.

They sought to expand the scope of Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to life with dignity, liberty, and respect, and stressed that the perceived immoral activities cannot be branded as offences.

The bench further held that the views expressed by Khushboo were personal. “How does it concern you? We are not bothered. At the most, it is a personal view. How is it an offence?” the bench asked the counsel.

The court also asked the complainants to produce evidence to show if any girl had eloped from her home after reading Khushboo's interview.

“How many homes have been affected,” the bench asked, while enquiring whether the complainants had daughters. When the response was in the negative, it shot back, “Then how are you adversely affected?”