Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a plea by an interfaith live-in couple seeking protection from alleged police harassment, citing that sexual acts before marriage are prohibited in Islam.
The court stated that writ jurisdiction is not designed to resolve such disputes between private parties and called for social intervention to address these societal issues.
It further emphasized that any sexual, lustful, or affectionate acts such as kissing, touching, or staring before marriage are considered as Zina (adultery) and are not permissible in Islam.
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court dismissed the plea, noting that the petitioners did not provide any specific instances of police interference in their writ petition.
“The petitioners have not stated anywhere in the writ petition any specific instance of the police coming and knocking their doors or taking them to the police station,” observed the court.
A division bench of Justice Sangeeta Chandra and Justice Narendra Kumar Johari observed that “Writ jurisdiction being extraordinary jurisdiction is not made to resolve such type of dispute between two private parties.”
The court emphasized that this is a social problem that can be addressed through social means rather than through the intervention of the court, in the garb of violation of Article 21 of the Constitution of India unless harassment is established beyond doubt.
The petitioners, a 29-year-old Hindu woman and a 30-year-old Muslim man who are living together, filed the protection plea against alleged police harassment. The court made these observations while hearing their case.
The woman also mentioned that her mother did not approve of their relationship. The court noted that the petitioners did not express their intention to marry in the future in their petition.
The court observed that in “Islamic law, no recognition can be given to sexual relations outside of marriage”. It stated that "Zina," which encompasses any sexual intercourse except between married individuals, includes both extramarital and premarital sex.
“Such premarital sex is not permissible in Islam. In fact, any sexual, lustful, affectionate acts such as kissing, touching, staring etc are ‘Haram’ in Islam before marriage because these are considered parts of Zina,” the court clarified.
The court further mentioned that the punishment for such offenses in the Quran is a hundred lashes for unmarried males and females, and stoning to death.
“We cannot allow the petitioners to raise disputed questions of fact under Writ jurisdiction as it would be a wrong assumption of such extraordinary jurisdiction. The writ petition is, accordingly, dismissed,” the court ordered.
“In case, the petitioners approach the appropriate court of law or the police authority concerned raising their grievances, the same may be considered in accordance with law,” the court said.