Madhya Pradesh High Court: In a habeas corpus petition filed for an adult woman who had eloped with a married man, the Division Bench of Atul Sreedharan* and Pradeep Mittal, JJ., disposed of the petition, holding that the woman was an adult who had the right to choose whom she wanted to live with and there was no law preventing her from living with a married man if she wished to.
Background
When the woman was produced before the Court, she informed that she would like to live with the man with whom she had eloped.
The State contended that the man was married and hence the woman should live with her parents. The State also contended that the man had already left his first wife and was proposing to take a divorce.
Analysis and Decision
At the outset, the Court stated that undisputedly the woman’s age was more than 18 years, and she was an adult who had a mind of her own. She had the right to decide, whether right or wrong, regarding who she wanted to live with.
As regards the person with whom she wants to live being married, there is no law that prevents her from living along with the said person.”
The Court added that if she marries him, which was a non-cognizable offence, only the first wife could register a bigamy case against her husband and the woman. The Court further stated that it could not pontificate on matters relating to morality.
Since the woman had a right to stay with whomever she wanted and she had declined to stay with her parents, the Court directed the Police to release the woman after taking an undertaking from her that she is going to live with the person of her choice. The Police was also directed to take an endorsement from the person she was living with that he has accepted her company.
Accordingly, the petition was disposed of.
[N v. State of Madhya Pradesh, 2025 SCC OnLine MP 5879, decided on 18-08-2025]
*Judgment authored by: Justice Atul Sreedharan
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For the petitioner: Aayush Sharma
For the respondent: Dy. Advocate General Abhijeet Awasthi
