Consenting Adults in Live-in Relationship Entitled to Police Protection: Rajasthan High Court

Two petitioners approached the High Court seeking protection of their life and personal liberty (para 3). They said that both were major and were voluntarily living together in a live-in relationship, that their family members and relatives were annoyed with that decision and had threatened their life and liberty, and that the first petitioner's representation to the Superintendent of Police and the Nodal Officer had led to no effective action (para 3). It was submitted for them that, being major, they were entitled to choose their companion and live together, and that no one, including their families, could interfere (para 4).

The Court held that the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 includes an individual's right to make choices on personal autonomy and intimate association (para 5). Relying on Shafin Jahan v. Asokan K.M., where the Supreme Court recognised the right to choose a partner as an integral facet of personal liberty, it held that consenting adult couples in a live-in relationship are fully entitled to police protection (para 5). That their family members or relatives did not accept the decision to live together could not, by itself, justify interference with their life and liberty; but the alleged threat had to be examined objectively by the competent police authority (para 6). The Court therefore left the enquiry to the police and expressed no opinion on the allegations against any individual (paras 7-8).