Shanmugam v. The Superintendent Of Police
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED : 04.09.2023
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE M.SUNDAR and THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE R.SAKTHIVEL H.C.P.No.1638 of 2023 Shanmugam .. Petitioner Vs.
State Rep. By its 1.
The Superintendent of Police O/o. Superintendent of Police Chengalpattu Chengalpattu District 2.
The Inspector of Police Chengalpattu Town Police Station Chengalpattu District ..Respondents Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for issuance of a writ of habeas corpus to direct the respondents to produce the body or person of the petitioner's daughter viz., Mahalakshmi, Daughter of Shanmugam, aged about 21 years before this Court and set her at liberty. For Petitioner :
Mr.W.Camyles Gandhi For Respondents :
Mr.E.Raj Thilak Additional Public Prosecutor Page Nos.1/6
O R D E R
[Order of the Court was made by M.SUNDAR, J.,] This order will now dispose of the captioned 'Habeas Corpus Petition' ['HCP' for the sake of brevity, convenience and clarity].
2. Factual matrix in a nutshell is that the petitioner's daughter Ms.Mahalakshmi [Date of Birth: 30.01.2002, aged 21 years now] has finished graduation and is working and that on 07.07.2023 at about 06.00am went to the company where she works but did not return; that this prompted the petitioner to lodge a complaint in the Chengalpattu Town Police Station; that this complaint is dated 11.07.2023; that this complaint has been taken on file by the Chengalpattu Town Police Station as FIR No.341 of 2023 [Woman Missing]; that apprehending illegal detention of absentee, captioned HCP has been filed in this Court on 18.08.2023.
3. Before the predecessor Hon'ble Bench on 28.08.2023, Mr.A.Gokulakrishnan, learned State Additional Public Prosecutor accepted notice on behalf of both the respondents.
Page Nos.2/6
4. Today, Mr.W.Camlyes Gandhi, learned counsel for petitioner, petitioner Thiru.Shanmugam, son of Thiru.Posangu, absentee and one Thiru.John Kennedy, with whom we are informed that the absentee is married, are present in Court. Mr.E.Raj Thilak, learned State Additional Public Prosecutor representing both the respondents and instructed by Mr.V.Radhakrishnan, Inspector of Police, D-1 Changalpattu Town Police Station and Ms.D.Vithya, Women Police Constable, Changalpattu Town Police Station are before this Court.
5. Learned Prosecutor, on instructions, submitted that the absentee has married Thiru.John Kennedy [we are informed that Date of Birth of Thiru.John Kennedy is 02.11.1997 and is therefore, 25 years old and is a major].
6. We had interaction with absentee and the following points emerged: i) absentee says she married Thiru.John Kennedy on 12.07.2023;
ii) absentee says she wants to continue her marital tie; iii) absentee says that her matrimonial home is at No.2/12, B.Pallipetti, Lurthapuram, Dharmapuri - 635 301; iv) the jurisdictional police which located the absentee Page Nos.3/6
also confirms that the absentee was located from the aforementioned address;
v) Absentee informed this Court that she is in the family way and she conceived more than a month back; vi) Absentee preferred to talk to the petitioner over phone rather than a direct interaction.
7. From the narrative thus far, it emerges clearly that absentee and Mr.John Kennedy are majors and therefore, they have made a choice on their own. This also means that this is not a case of illegal detention or unlawful custody. Therefore, we drop the curtains on the captioned HCP. Captioned HCP is disposed of as closed.
(M.S.,J.) (R.S.V.,J.) 04.09.2023 Index : Yes / No Speaking / Non-speaking order gpa Page Nos.4/6
To 1.
The Superintendent of Police O/o. Superintendent of Police Chengalpattu Chengalpattu District 2.
The Inspector of Police Chengalpattu Town Police Station 3.
The Public Prosecutor High Court, Madras.
Page Nos.5/6
M.SUNDAR, J., and R.SAKTHIVEL, J., gpa H.C.P.No.1638 of 2023 04.09.2023 Page Nos.6/6