HC: Living together different from live-in relationship

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 14

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that living together was different from a live-in relationship. Mere claim of two adults living together for a few days was not enough to hold they were truly in a live-in-relationship — an alliance accorded “some legitimacy” by the legislature. Certain conditions were required to be fulfilled by the partners for attaching legitimate sanctity to such a relationship.

Justice Manoj Bajaj ruled that the concept of the live-in-relationship between two adults of opposite gender had received recognition in India also, as the legislature had injected some legitimacy to this kind of alliance while promulgating the “Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005” and liberally defining “domestic relationship” in Section 2(f).

But some sections of society were reluctant to accept such relationships despite this elasticity. It was required to be constantly borne in mind that a relationship’s length, coupled with the discharge of certain duties and responsibilities towards each other, made such relationships akin to marital relations.

The Bench was hearing a protection plea filed by a minor couple. Justice Bajaj made it clear that a substantial number of pleas were filed by runaway couples to get the court’s seal of approval and not because of actual threat perception. Justice Bajaj added that a majority of the petitions were based on imaginary cause of action and rarely founded on “actual” or “real” existence of threat.

In pursuit of absolute freedom, youngsters in recent years have been leaving the company of their parents to live with the persons of their choice. After discussing in detail the pleas raised by the minor petitioners, Justice Bajaj directed Sirsa SSP to depute a responsible police officer to ensure the restoration of the 14-year-old girl’s custody to her parents.

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