Punjab: HC Grants Protection To Live-In Couple On Plea Petition

The Punjab and Haryana High Court granted protection to a live-in couple, despite one of them being a minor and further added that if a couple has decided to be together, it is not for the courts to judge them.

The order came on the protection plea from a 17-year-old girl and a 20-year-old boy hailing from Bathinda in Punjab.

The order was passed by a bench of Justice Sant Parkash on June 3. The observation from the court is significant as it comes in the backdrop of different benches of the high court expressing divergent views on live-in relationships.

The court was informed, in the protection plea, that upon learning about the relationship between the girl and her partner, the girl's parents wanted her to marry a person of their choice.

Followed by this, the girl left her home to live with her partner. The couple have decided to live together till the time they are legally allowed to solemnise their marriage, they submitted in their plea.

"It would be a travesty of justice in case protection is denied to persons who have opted to reside together without the sanctity of marriage," the bench remarked as reported by Hindustan Times.

In its hearing, it also said that it would also be failing in its duty to provide people with right to their life and liberty, if it did not intervene.

The bench noted that it can't lose sight of honour killings prevalent in the region. The bench also said that petitioners have not asked the court for permission to marry or to approve their relationship. This would have been a major problem as both of these would have put the court in a spot as the girl is a minor.

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