Live-in relationship morally, socially unacceptable: HC

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has said live-in-relationships are morally and socially unacceptable, an observation which runs contrary to the Supreme Court stand recognising them.

The High Court made the observation while dismissing a petition filed by a runaway couple seeking protection. In their petition, Gulza Kumari (19) and Gurwinder Singh (22) said they were living together and intended to get married shortly. They apprehended danger to their lives from Kumari’s parents.

In his May 11 order, Justice HS Madaan said, As a matter of fact, the petitioners in the garb of filing the present petition are seeking seal of approval on their live-in-relationship, which is morally and socially not acceptable and no protection order in the petition can be passed.The petition stands dismissed accordingly, his order said.

According to petitioners’ counsel JS Thakur, Singh and Kumari were living together in Tarn Taran district. The woman’s parents in Ludhiana did not approve of their relationship. The couple could not get married as Kumari’s documents, which have details of her age, were in the possession of her family, Thakur added.The Supreme Court has taken a different view on the issue in the past. A three-judge bench of the apex court held in May 2018 that an adult couple had the right to live together even without marriage.

It had made this clear while asserting that a 20-year-old Kerala woman, whose marriage had been annulled, could choose whom she wanted to live with.

The top court had held that live-in-relationships were now even recognized by the legislature and they had found a place under the provisions of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. In another landmark case filed by actor S Khushboo, the Supreme Court had said live-in relationships are permissible and the act of two adults living together cannot be considered illegal or unlawful.

The High Court made the observation while dismissing a petition filed by a couple who is living together seeking protection