Allahabad High Court: Married Man in Live-in Not a Crime, But Wife Retains Rights

• Allahabad High Court rules a married man in a consensual live-in relationship with another adult woman is not a crime.
• The court granted protection to a couple from Shahjahanpur, stating social morality cannot override legal absence of crime.
• Adultery, previously under IPC Section 497, was decriminalized by the Supreme Court in 2018 ('Joseph Shine vs. Union of India').
• The new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita also excludes adultery as a criminal offense, affirming consensual live-in relationships are not criminal.
• Wife's rights remain: she can seek divorce and maintenance, but second marriage without divorce is still illegal.