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CRWP-13670-2025 (O&M) 1

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA

AT CHANDIGARH

134

CRWP-13670-2025 (O&M)

Date of decision: 19.12.2025

Seema Devi and Another

....Petitioners

Versus

State of Haryana and Others

...Respondents

CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AMAN CHAUDHARY

*****

Present : Mr. Shivam Chaudhary and Mr. Rohit Kumar Rana, Advocates

for the petitioners

*****

AMAN CHAUDHARY, J. (ORAL)

1. The present petition has been filed under Articles 226/227 of the

Constitution of India for issuance of direction to respondent Nos.1 to 3 to

protect life and liberty of the petitioners at the hands of private respondents as

they are in a ‘live-in’ against the wishes of their family members.

2. Learned counsel for the petitioners refers to the averments made in

the petition, to state that both the petitioners are major and the date of birth of

petitioner No.1 and No.2 are 22.07.1985 and 15.04.1997 respectively. The

copies of their Aadhar cards are appended as Annexures P-1 and P-2,

respectively. The petitioners are stated to be in a 'live-in relationship', on

account of which family members of petitioner No.1 are giving threats to them.

3. Notice of motion.

4. At the asking of the Court, ,

accepts notice on behalf of respondent Nos.1 to 2 and has no objection in

deciding the representation filed on behalf of the petitioners.

5. The issue as to whether marriage is a must for providing protection

MOHIT

2025.12.19 16:15

I attest to the accuracy and

integrity of this document

CRWP-13670-2025 (O&M) 2

to a couple in a 'live-in relationship', keeping in view the fundamental rights

ensured under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, has been considered by

the different Benches of this Court in CRWP-4521-2021 titled as Pardeep

Singh and another vs. State of Haryana and others decided on 18.05.2021;

CRWP-8081-2021 titled as Goutam Kumar and another vs. State of Punjab

and others decided on 26.08.2021 and also by the Division Bench in LPA 769-

2021 titled as Ishrat Bano and another vs. State of Punjab and others

decided on 03.09.2021 and in LPA 1678-2014 titled as Rajwinder Kaur and

another vs. State of Punjab and others decided on 09.10.2014.

6. This Court in Pardeep Singh's case(supra) while granting

protection to the petitioners therein, where they were residing in a live-in

relationship, had 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 live-in relationship. 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 liberty of every

individual is precious and must be protected irrespective of

individual views.

Let us examine the issue from another view-point. The

Constitutional Courts grant protection to couples, who have

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integrity of this document

CRWP-13670-2025 (O&M) 3

married against the wishes of their respective parents. They

seek protection of life and liberty from their parent