Live-in couples entitled to protection, rules HC

CHANDIGARH: Live-in relationship is not prohibited nor does it amount to commission of any offence, the Punjab and Haryana high court has held.

“Such couples fear for their safety from relatives and not from the society. Hence, such persons are entitled to equal protection of laws as any other citizen of the country,” said the court in its order on May 18.

The order comes days after two different benches had refused to grant protection to live-in couples. While one of the benches observed that the “entire social fabric of the society will get disturbed” if the plea is accepted, the other said “the petitioners, in the garb of filing the present petition, are seeking seal of approval on their live-inrelationship, which is morally and socially not acceptable.”

The fresh order comes from justice Sudhir Mittal, passed on plea of a couple from Jind in Haryana, who had submitted that both are major but fear for their life and liberty as the girl’s parents are against the relationship and are threatening to cause physical harm to the boy.

State counsel had contended that live-in relationships are not legal and are frowned upon by the society. Thus, no protection can be granted to the petitioners.

“The Constitution of India is the supreme law of the land. Right to life and liberty is enshrined therein and is treated as a basic feature. The said right includes the right of an individual to full development of his/ her potential in accordance with his/her choice and wish and for such purpose, he/she is entitled to choose a partner of his/her choice. The individual also has the right to formalise the relationship with the partner through marriage or to adopt the non-formal approach of a live-in relationship,” the bench observed.

It further added that the concept of live-in-relationships has crept into the Indian society from western nations and initially, found acceptance in metropolitan cities, probably because individuals felt that formalisation of a relationship through marriage was not necessary for complete fulfilment.

“Slowly, the concept has percolated into small towns and villages as well, as is evident from this petition. This shows that social acceptance for livein-relationships is on the increase. In law, such a relationship is not prohibited nor does it amount to commission of any offence and thus, such persons are entitled to equal protection of laws as any other citizen of the country,” the bench added.

The court further observed that the constitutional courts grant protection to couples who get married against the wishes of their respective parents.

THE ORDER COMES DAYS AFTER TWO HC BENCHES HAD TURNED DOWN PROTECTION PLEAS OF LIVE-IN COUPLES SAYING THAT SUCH RELATIONSHIPS WERE SOCIALLY NOT ACCEPTABLE