N.Murugan v. The Superintendent Of Police

BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT DATED : 01.12.2020

CORAM:

THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE K.KALYANASUNDARAM and THE HONOURABLE MRS.JUSTICE T.KRISHNAVALLI N.Murugan ... Petitioner/Father of the detenue -vs1.The Superintendent of Police, Kanyakumari District, Nagercoil.

2.The Inspector of Police, All Women Police Station, Kanyakumari.

3.Muthukumar 4.Murugan @ Kokki Murugan 5.Bama ... Respondents/Respondents PRAYER: Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, to issue a writ of habeas corpus directing the respondents 1 and 2 to produce the body or person of the detenu viz., the petitioner's minor daughter namely Sharmila, D/o Murugan aged about 17 years and hand over the custody of the detenue with him. For Petitioner :

Mr.A.Mohamed Haneef For Respondents :

Mr.K.Dinesh Babu Additional Public Prosecutor (for R1 & R2) Mr.S.Vikram (for R4 and R5)

O R D E R

[Order of the Court was made by K.KALYANASUNDARAM, J.] This habeas corpus petition has been filed seeking a direction to the respondents 1 and 2 to produce the petitioner's minor daughter Sharmila aged about 17 years and hand over her custody to the petitioner.

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2.The petitioner is the father of the detenue. According to him, he is a daily wages collie and the detenue is a minor and she has completed +2 and due to holidays, she was in the petitioner's sister-in-law's house. While so, she was found missing from 25.08.2020. Hence, a complaint was lodged with the second respondent police on 26.08.2020. The petitioner would further state that though the second respondent registered a case in Crime No.24/2020 on 26.08.2020 under Section 366 of IPC, no effective steps were taken to secure the minor girl. He has also stated that the detenue was illegally detained by the private respondents 3 to

6. Hence, the present petition has been filed. 3.When the matter is taken up for hearing today, the petitioner, the detenue and the third respondent appeared before this Court through video conferencing. The learned Additional Public Prosecutor would state that the detenue was born on 30.11.2002 and she had become major on 30.11.2020. On enquiry, the detenue would state that she had love affair with the third respondent and they got married on 01.12.2020 and they are living together as husband and wife.

4.Mr.S.Vikram, learned counsel for the private respondents 4 and 5 would state that as on date, the detenue is a major and hence, the custody of the detenue need not be handed over to the petitioner and she can be set at liberty.

5.In the light of the above statement of the learned counsels, this Habeas Corpus Petition is allowed and the detenue is set at liberty.

Sd/- Assistant Registrar (CS-II) // True Copy // / /2020 Sub Assistant Registrar(CS) skn Note :

In view of the present lock down owing to COVID-19 pandemic, a web copy of the order may be utilized for official purposes, but, ensuring that the copy of the order that is presented is the correct copy, shall be the responsibility of the advocate / litigant concerned.

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To:

1.The Superintendent of Police, Kanyakumari District, Nagercoil.

2.The Inspector of Police, All Women Police Station, Kanyakumari.

3.The Additional Public Prosecutor, Madurai Bench of Madras High Court, Madurai.

01.12.2020 CK(CO) NR (16/12/2020) 3P : 4C 3/3