Choosing life partner part of personal liberty: Delhi HC

Where two consenting adults decide to marry or cohabit, neither family nor community can lawfully obstruct that choice or subject them to pressure, social sanctions, or threats, says the HC

- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Freedom to choose a life partner is an intrinsic part of personal liberty and privacy under the Constitution and family or community cannot obstruct the choice of two consenting adults who decide to marry.

The high court, while referring to a Supreme Court judgment, said the top court has recognised that caste continues to exert a strong social influence in India, and that inter-caste marriages perform a valuable constitutional and societal function by promoting integration and reducing caste divisions.