NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has affirmed that two consenting adults in a live-in relationship “akin to marriage” are entitled to police protection against threats from family members, underscoring that the right to choose a partner is a fundamental right.
Justice Saurabh Banerjee made the observation while allowing a petition by a couple seeking protection from the woman’s father, who had allegedly threatened them over their relationship.
“The live-in relationship which the petitioners are in is, in a way, akin to marriage, though not legally. And at the end of the day, marriage in India is recognised if it is inter se two consenting individuals, irrespective of caste, creed, colour, religion and/or faith.
The Constitution guarantees fundamental rights in the form of Article 19 thereof, which enshrines their respective right to freedom and in the form of Article 21, which enshrines their respective right to life and liberty,” the judge said in an order passed on February 24.
Although the couple were not legally married, as “major and consenting adults who have willingly and with utmost responsibility chosen to enter into a relationship with each other, and for which they have even executed a Live-in Relationship Agreement on February 17, 2026 recording their desire(s), intent(s) and action(s), no one… have any right or authority to cause any hindrance of any kind to them,” the judge added.
The petitioners’ counsel told the court that the couple, born in 2006 and 2007, had been in a relationship since 2024 and were residing together. He said the woman’s father had been issuing threats, “placing their lives and liberty in jeopardy”.