Live-in couple entitled to protection even if they are not old enough to marry: Punjab & Haryana High Court

A couple in a live-in relationship is entitled to protection from threats by their relatives even if the partners in the relationship may not be of marriageable age, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled. [Gurdeep Kaur and another v. State of Punjab].Justice Arun Monga made the observation while ordering police protection to a couple, where the male partner was 18 years old, but not old enough to marry. .The judge observed that the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution was applicable to the couple, regardless of whether they were married or if they were of marriageable age. "The issue in hand, however, is not marriage of the petitioners, but the deprivation of fundamental right of seeking protection of life and liberty. I have no hesitation to hold that Constitutional Fundamental Right under Article 21 of Constitution of India stands on a much higher pedestal. Being sacrosanct under the Constitutional Scheme it must be protected, regardless of the solemnization of an invalid or void marriage or even the absence of any marriage between the parties," the Court said. .The Court added that the State has a duty to protect the life and liberty of every citizen. "Right to human life is to be treated on much higher pedestal, regardless of a citizen being minor or a major. Mere fact that petitioners are not of marriageable age in the present case would not deprive them of their fundamental right, as envisaged in Constitution of India, being citizens of India," the judge further observed. .The Court was dealing with a plea filed by a 21-year-old woman and an 18-year-old man who claimed that they wished to marry each other once the man attains the marriageable age. The couple had approached their parents with this proposal. However, the woman's parents opposed the union and tried to force her to get married to another man from her community, the Court was told. The couple said that they had been living together for a few days when they encountered threats from family members. When they approached the police with a request for protection, no such protection was granted, leading the couple to approach the High Court for relief. The High Court has now ordered the police to verify the couple's details and the threats allegedly made against them, and to grant them protection.In doing so, the Court also relied on a 2021 High Court decision in the case of Seema Kaur and another v. State of Punjab and others, wherein Justice Sant Parkash (now retired) had observed that it would be a travesty of justice if protection is denied to people who have opted to live together. .Advocate Lakhwinder Singh Lakhanpal appeared for the couple. Additional Advocate General Dhruv Dayal appeared for the Punjab government. .[Read Order]