PRABHJOT KAUR Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Prayer in this petition is for issuance of a writ, order or direction to the official respondents to protect the life and liberty of the petitioners from the hands of the private respondents.

(2.) Learned counsel for the petitioner states that the petitioners are major and are competent to take their own decisions. They have been in love for the last one and half years and were willing to marry with one other but due to pendency of divorce petition of petitioner No. 2 in the Court, both are unable to marry. The parents of the petitioner No.1 wanted to marry her against her wishes with the boy of their own choice. When she refused and told her parents that she would marry only with petitioner No. 2, on which family of the petitioner No. 1 threatened to the petitioner No.1 and did not allow her to go out of the house. She voluntarily left the house and joined the company of petitioner No. 2 and both the petitioners are living together in live-in relationship. They are running from pillar to post to save their lives as private respondents are behind their blood. Learned counsel for the petitioners has argued that petitioner No. 2 was married with respondent No. 5. The wife of petitioner No. 2 left the matrimonial house in the year 2015. Petitioner No. 2 is not having any issue. The petitioner No. 1 is unmarried. The petitioners have right to be protected and no one can be allowed to take law in his own hands. In support of his contentions, learned counsel for the petitioners has relied upon judgment dtd. 3/9/2021 passed by this Court in Paramjit Kaur and another vs. State of Punjab and others, CRWP No.7874 of 2021; judgment dtd. 28/4/2022 in Babli vs. State of Haryana, CRWP No.3927 of 2022; in Ishrat Bano and another vs. State of Punjab and others, LPA-769-2021 (O&M) by the Division Bench of this Court.

(3.) Learned counsel for the respondent No. 5 has submitted that both the petitioners cannot be permitted to live-in-relation because they are close family members and are having sapinda relationship with each other. Petitioner No. 1 is sister of petitioner No. 2. She is daughter of sister of father of petitioner No.2 (Bua's daugther and Mama's son). Petitioner No. 1 is only 21 years old and is unmarried. Petitioner No. 2 is married with Jyoti Laxmi. His wife has already filed petition under Sec. 125 Cr.P.C. She has also filed complaint against petitioners when she came to know about their relationship. Reliance is placed in case of Parvinder Kaur vs. State of Haryana; 2020 SCC OnLine P&H 1166 and Kavita and another vs. State of Haryana and others; 2021(4) R.C.R Crl. 437.