The main legal point established is that the protection of life and liberty is a basic feature of the Constitution, and individuals in live-in relationships are entitled to equal protection of laws, irrespective of the legality of the relationship or criminal cases against the parties.

JASJIT SINGH BEDI, J.

The present Criminal Writ Petition has been filed under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India for issuance of directions to respondent Nos. 2 to 4 to protect the life and liberty of the petitioners.

2. Petitioner no.1 is stated to be born on 01.01.1989 and for this purpose, reference has been made to Aadhaar card (Annexure P-1). Petitioner no.2 is stated to be born on 02.02.1998 and for the said purpose, reference has been made to Aadhaar card (Annexure P-2). It is submitted that the petitioner no.1-Rina Rani was married to respondent no.4 who maltreated her and assaults her verbally and physically. It is stated that the petitioners are in a “Live in Relationship” and they want to marry each other against the wishes of the respondent nos.4 to 6 (in-laws of petitioner no.1).

3. Learned counsel for the petitioners has stated that a co-ordinate Bench of this Court in a judgment dated 18.05.2021 passed in CRWP-4521-2021 titled as “Pardeep Singh and another vs. State of Haryana and others” has granted protection in a case where the petitioners were living in a “Live in Relationship”.

4. Learned counsel has further relied upon an order passed by a coordinate Bench of this Court dated 03.09.2021, passed in CRWP-7874-2021 titled as “Paramjit Kaur and another vs. State of Punjab and others” as per which although the divorce petition filed by petitioner no.2 therein was dismissed, yet this Court had granted protection to the petitioners.

Learned Counsel for the petitioner has relied upon an order passed by a Co-ordinate Bench of this Court dated 02.11.2021 passed in CRWP-10411-2021 Amandeep Kaur & Anr. Vs. State of Punjab & Ors. as per which in a case where one of the parties was married and was living in with another person other than her husband, this Court had granted protection to the petitioners.

5. Learned counsel has further submitted that the petitioners have given a representation dated 05.04.2023 (Annexure P-3) to respondent no.2 and they would be satisfied in case respondent no.2 is directed to look into the said representation and after considering threat perception to the petitioners, to take appropriate action.

6. Notice of motion to respondents Nos.1 to 3 only.

7. On advance notice, Mr. Kanwar Sanjiv Kumar, AAG Haryana appears and accepts notice on behalf of respondents Nos.1 to 3 and has stated that he has no objection in case respondent no.2 is directed to look into the representation of the petitioners on the aspect of threat perception and to take appropriate action, in accordance with law.

8. This Court has heard learned counsel for the parties.

9. In Pardeep Singh's (supra), a co-ordinate Bench of this Court has held as under:-

“ 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 formalize the relationship with the partner through marriage or to adopt the non-formal approach of a liveinrelationship. The concept of live-in-relationships has crept into our society from western nations and initially, found acceptance in the metropolitan cities, probably because, individuals felt that formalization of a relationship through marriage was not necessary for complete fulfillment. Education played a great role in development of this concept. Slowly, the concept has percolated into small towns and villages also as is evident from this petition. This shows that social acceptance for live-in-relationships is on the increase. In law, such a relationship is not prohibited nor does it amount to commission of any offence and thus, in my considered view such persons are entitled to equal protection of laws as any other citizen of the country. The law postulates that the life and