DistantNews
Support us
🇮🇳 India /Crime & Justice

Pre-marital relationships don't stain character: Supreme Court

From Hindustan Times · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • The Supreme Court of India ruled that pre-marital physical relationships between consenting adults do not reflect questionable character.
  • The court stated that authorities cannot judge character based on personal morality, but rather on criminality, dishonesty, or traits incompatible with public service.
  • This ruling led to the reinstatement of a police constable candidate whose selection was canceled due to a criminal case arising from a failed romantic relationship, which was later settled.

The Supreme Court of India has declared that consensual pre-marital relationships between adults do not inherently indicate a flawed character. The court emphasized that recruitment boards cannot base character assessments on personal moral beliefs. Instead, the focus should be on whether an individual's conduct involves criminality, dishonesty, or traits unsuitable for public service.

Physical relationship between two consenting unmarried adults cannot and should not by itself be a ground to draw an adverse impression about the character of the person in that relationship.

— Supreme Court of IndiaThe bench stated this observation in its judgment regarding character assessment for recruitment.

In a significant judgment, a bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Manmohan observed that modern society increasingly accepts consensual relationships among unmarried adults. They stated that without any legal prohibition, authorities should not presume such relationships reflect negatively on a person's integrity. "Physical relationship between two consenting unmarried adults cannot and should not by itself be a ground to draw an adverse impression about the character of the person in that relationship," the bench noted.

The ruling came as the court directed the Telangana State Level Police Recruitment Board to appoint a police constable candidate. The candidate's selection had been canceled due to a criminal case stemming from a four-year romantic relationship that ended. Although the case was settled through compromise before a Lok Adalat, the recruitment authorities deemed the candidate unsuitable, considering the compromise an admission of guilt.

There is no law which prohibits two consenting unmarried adults to have a relationship of their choice.

— Supreme Court of IndiaThe court made this statement while discussing the prevalence of consensual relationships in modern society.

The Supreme Court overturned the recruitment board's decision, restoring a single judge's order for the candidate's appointment. The court found the board's reasoning "without any basis" and asserted that character verification must be objective, not subjective, focusing on traits relevant to public service rather than personal notions of morality.

the recruitment board’s reasoning “without any basis”.

— Supreme Court of IndiaThe court described the recruitment board's justification for canceling the candidate's selection.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hindustan Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog