Khushboo & ANR v. The State & ORS

$~48 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + W.P.(CRL) 3489/2018 KHUSHBOO & ANR .....Petitioners Through:

Mr. Adnan Ahmad, Ms. Aprajita Sharma and Md. Mobin, Advocates with Petitioners in person.

versus THE STATE & ORS ..... Respondents Through:

Mr. Rajesh Mahajan, ASC for State with Ms. Jyoti Babbar, Advocate and Inspector-SHO Pramod Joshi, SI Shailender Kumar, ASI Puran Singh and ASI Vijendra, P.S. Gokul Puri.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE NAJMI WAZIRI

O R D E R

% 16.11.2018 The petitioners are stated to have attained the age of majority and have married each other of their free volition. However, the tie of matrimony does not meet the approval of respondent no. 4, the father of petitioner no. 1. They apprehend grave threat to their life, limb and liberty from the said respondent and seek protection of this Court. Mr. Rajesh Mahajan, the learned Additional Standing Counsel for the State submits that due protection shall be accorded to them. Indeed, the police have interacted with the petitioners as of last evening and have recorded their statements and assured them of their safety. Additionally, three telephone numbers have been provided to the petitioner. However,

when the learned counsel for the petitioner was asked to dial one of the numbers in Court to ascertain as to whether there is any response from the police, the learned counsel for the petitioners states, upon instructions, that no telephone numbers have been furnished to the petitioners by the police. The learned Additional Standing Counsel for the State submits, upon instructions, from ASI Puran Singh, in support of the Status Report signed by the SHO concerned that telephone numbers were provided to the petitioners. He seeks a pass over to obtain instructions in this regard. After the passover, the learned Additional Standing Counsel for the State submits, upon instructions from SHO/Insp. Pramod Joshi, that the telephone numbers have been furnished to the petitioners.

He assures the Court that the matter has been looked into by the SHO of the area concerned and that the respondent No.4 will be duly sensitized to maintain peace as well as to the fact that the legal adults have a right to make their own decision in choosing a life partner and the parents cannot interfere in the exercise of such right.

Be that as it may, the petitioners shall be provided with telephone numbers of three police officers from the jurisdiction of the concerned Police Station, of which one shall be a lady police officer. These numbers shall be kept operational at all times so that any exigency can be intimated on either of the numbers by the petitioners. He further states that any message received on the said numbers or on any other telephone number of the police either by way of a telephone call or SMS shall be immediately responded to. Additionally, the Beat Constable/Division Staff of the area shall regularly visit the residence of the petitioners on a daily basis and report the same in the Roznamcha. The safety and security of the petitioners

shall be assessed by the SHO on a weekly basis with due endorsement of the same in the Roznamcha for a month. The Beat Constable shall record entries in his Beat Book. The petitioners shall furnish their address in Delhi to the SHO concerned. Should the petitioners shift their address to the jurisdiction of any other Police Station in Delhi, the same protection shall be granted to them by the SHO of the subsequent Police Station as well. No further orders are required at this stage. The petition stands disposed-off accordingly. NAJMI WAZIRI, J NOVEMBER 16, 2018 RW