The Punjab and Haryana High Court was dealing with a plea of a live-in couple, where girl's age was 16-year-old. (AI-generated Image)The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that courts cannot grant protection to live-in relationships involving minors and extending protection in such cases would amount to indirectly approving a relationship that the law does not recognise. The court, therefore, dismissed the plea filed by a minor girl and her adult partner. Stressing the minor’s welfare, Justice Sumeet Goel also directed the Ludhiana Commissioner of Police to take appropriate action in accordance with the law. “In adjudicating upon a petition for protection wherein minors are involved in a live-in relationship, the Court must remain mindful of the fact that the paramount consideration remains the welfare and well-being of the minor in question.