Live-in relationship between consenting adults akin to marriage, parents can't interfere: Delhi HC

A live-in relationship between consenting adults is akin to marriage and cannot be interfered with by parents, relatives or friends, the Delhi High Court has said while directing police to protect a couple who alleged threats from the woman's family.

Justice Saurabh Banerjee, in an order passed on August 13, said consenting adults have the right to choose their partners and live with them without interference or threats to their life and liberty.

Also Read: Supreme Court brings live-in relationships under Section 498A anti-cruelty law


"Since the petitioners have willingly, consensually and with utmost responsibility chosen to enter into a live-in relationship with each other, nobody, be it their parents/ relatives/ friends, have a right and/ or authority to cause any hinderance and/ or interfere with their choice thereof, much less threaten their life and/ or liberty," the court said.

The judge noted that although the couple was not legally married, their relationship was "akin to marriage" because both were consenting adults.

"The petitioners herein are though in a live-in relationship, are not legally married to each, however, being consenting adults, the same is akin to marriage," it stated.

The couple, both in their 30s, told the court that they had been living together "for a while" and intended to marry.

According to their petition, the woman's father and brother opposed the relationship and had repeatedly threatened the couple with violence. The couple also said they had approached the local Station House Officer with a complaint, but no action was taken.

Also Read: Section 498A of IPC will also apply to live-in partners: SC

‘Societal morals’ cannot curtail fundamental rights

The court said the law recognises marriages between consenting adults irrespective of caste, creed, colour, religion or faith, and that their fundamental rights cannot be curtailed by "societal morals and prejudices".

Such restrictions, it said, amount to depriving individuals of their "very individualistic identity".

The court also referred to Supreme Court judgments holding that adults have an unfettered right to live together as they choose, even in the absence of a formal marriage.

"This now has due sanctity in the eyes of law, and has even been recognised by the legislature under provisions such as the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005," the court said.

The police protection was granted after the court was satisfied that the couple's life and liberty required protection from the alleged threats by the woman's family.