New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday ordered Punjab Police to grant protection to the live-in couple whose plea was earlier dismissed by the Punjab and Haryana high court, LiveLaw reported.The bench of Justice Navin Sinha and Justice Ajay Rastogi ordered: “Needless to state that since it concerns life and liberty, the superintendent of police is required to act expeditiously in accordance with law, including the grant of any protection to the petitioners in view of the apprehensions/ threats, uninfluenced by the observations of the high court.”On May 11, while hearing the couple’s plea, Justice H.S. Madaan of the Punjab and Haryana high court described such relationships as “morally and socially unacceptable”. The court had even said that the entire social fabric of the society would get disturbed, and hence, the couple couldn’t be granted protection.Also read: Love, Faith and Consent in a Hindu RashtraInterestingly, in a contrasting judgement, the a different bench of the same court later ruled that validity of the marriage cannot be a ground for denial of protection of the couple’s life and liberty.Several cases related to live-in couples have been heard by Indian courts of late.For instance, the Allahabad high court recently granted interim protection to a live-in interfaith couple, noting that such an arrangement between consenting adults was not an offence. Nobody, the bench said, should come in the way of the couple’s “peaceful living”. The bench comprising Justices Pankaj Naqvi and Jayant Banerji said, “Till the next date of listing, no one shall interfere in the peaceful living of the petitioners.”In fact, the Supreme Court in a 2018 judgement had ruled it wanted to protect married and live-in couples from any threat of violence.
