The Punjab and Haryana High Court instructed a woman who submitted a habeas corpus petition on behalf of her same-sex partner to establish the nature of their relationship as her "next best friend."

The petitioner claimed that her 19-year-old partner was being unlawfully detained by her parents and appealed to the court for intervention.

During the Friday hearing of the petition, Justice Pankaj Jain questioned the petitioner about her assertion that she had assumed the position of the alleged detainee's "next best friend," especially considering the detainee's origin in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district.

The petitioner's counsel cited the transcript of a telephonic conversation between the petitioner's mother and her partner during the proceedings.

"On being asked, apart from the said conversation, what material the petitioner has to demonstrate that the petitioner is a person who can act as next best friend of detention, counsel for the petitioner prays for time," according to the order.

"The query has assumed significance in view of the fact that there are two Aadhaar cards on record. One shows the date of birth of detenue to be June 15, 2007, whereas the petitioner claims that detenue was born on June 14, 2004," the judge said.

This observation has also been documented in the order issued by a different bench on January 4th.

In the preceding hearing, Justice Moudgil instructed both the Union Ministry of Electronics and IT and the regional office of the Unique Identification Authority of India in Chandigarh to furnish information regarding the Aadhaar cards issued under the name of the alleged detainee.

The Aadhaar cards - one produced by the petitioner and another by the detenue's parents—record different dates of birth for the detenue.