High Court of Punjab and HaryanaCRM-M/8173/2018disposed of

Situ Devi And ANR. v. State Of Punjab And ORS.

2018-02-23Mr. Justice Avneesh Jhingan2 pages

Manoj Kumar 2018.02.28 08:35 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document CRM No.M-8173 of 2018 #1#

IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB AND

HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH CRM No.M-8173 of 2018 Date of Order: 23.02.2018 Situ Devi and Anr.

....Petitioners

Versus

State of Punjab and Ors.

....Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AMOL RATTAN SINGH

Present:

Mr. S.K. Choudhary, Advocate for the petitioners. AMOL RATTAN SINGH, J (ORAL) The petitioners, who are present in the court, are seeking protection of their lives and liberty at the hands of respondents No.5 to 9, who are stated to be the parents, brother and other family members of petitioner no.1, on account of the fact that they have married each other of their own free will, against the wishes of the said respondents on 22.1.2018. Photographs of what is stated to be a marriage ceremony have been annexed with the petition.

As regards proof of age of the petitioners, their original Educational Certificates, showing the date of birth of petitioner no.1 to be 08.2.1994 and that of petitioner no.2 to be 10.5.1992, have been produced in Court. As per the said documents, both the petitioners are shown to be above the legally marriageable age. On a specific query put to learned counsel for the petitioners, it has been stated that neither are the petitioners in any prohibited relationship to each other, nor has any of them been married earlier.

Consequently, since protection of life and liberty is a

CRM No.M-8173 of 2018 #2# fundamental right of every citizen under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, without making any comment on the validity of the marriage, this petition is disposed of with a direction to respondents No.2 to 4 to ensure that the lives and liberty of the petitioners are not put to any harm or threat, at the hands of the aforesaid respondents or at their behest.

However, it is made clear that if any of the averments made in the petition is found to be incorrect, specifically with regard to either the petitioners being in any prohibited relationship to each other, or as regards their previous marital status, or with regard to their age, this order shall not be construed to be a bar on proceedings initiated as per law. February 23, 2018 (AMOL RATTAN SINGH ) manoj JUDGE Whether speaking/reasoned:

Yes/No Whether Reportable : Yes/No